Our World of Beauty
by Chidsengan
Summary: Haruhi's the richest girl at Ouran with a secret. Also in Ouran are six boys with their own secrets. Haruhi and the boys barely interact,and if they do,it's not pleasant. When they land in trouble and discover a plot that could destroy Ouran,however,it's up to them to save the day. But how can a group of misfits who don't even get along do so? Enjoy,please! I beg you,no flames!
1. Chapter 1

**Chidsengan: So, here's another fanfic from the worst author to ever have a fanfiction account... me! Chidsengan! For those of you out there reading my work for the first time, thanks so much! I hope we can be great friends! ^_^ And for those of you who know me from my other fanfics, hi, it's great to see you again, my already-great friends! ^_^**

**Anyway, this is my first-ever Ouran High School Host Club fanfic, and although I might not get a single review, this is just something I felt like I needed to write (not to mention really wanted to write)! ^_^ Basically, it's OHSHC with a twist, and since all OHSHC fans out there know that the host club can bring a lot of life into anything, it seemed like this fanfic was a great way to start the new year! ^_^ ... or at least it would be if I wasn't such a pathetic writer and that this was the most idiotic fanfic ever written (aside from my other fanfics)... :(**

**Back to happier things, however, this fanfic goes out to OfTheAsianPersuasion. She's not only my great friend and someone who I consider my sister, but the person who introduced me to OHSHC in the first place! ^_^ So this is a Merry Christmas/Happy Birthday/and Happy New Year gift for her all rolled into one! ^_^ **

**I guess this would be the part where I'd say please read and review, but I'm a terrible author, so please read and review all the other talented authors' work! (although I really do love reviews and am honored if you do R&R this fanfic TTUTT)**

**Lastly, I do not own OHSHC and the characters... although many say I act exactly like Tamaki (I'm still not sure if that's a compliment).**

**Please enjoy and I hope you all like this fanfic! I'm so sorry that it's so poorly-written and that I'm so pathetic! TT_TT**

* * *

_Note: This first chappie is really more of a prologue than an actual chappie, which is why it's so short. I promise every other chappie posted after this will be at least 3,000+ words long :) Oh, and when you see this:_ *** Y * Y * Y *** _, it's a story transition :)_

* * *

**New Words:**

Being that Tamaki's (part) French and one of Haruhi's maids is, as well, there'll be a lot of French in this fanfic (well, not too much, but...). Either way, if any new words are used in any chappies, they're listing of what they mean'll be listed here :)

_Pardonnez Moi- Excuse Me/Pardon Me_

_Oui- Yes_

___Bien sûr_- Of course

_Non- No_

___Tu as raison_- You're right

___Je ne comprends pas_- I do not understand

_Un Secret- A secret_

_Au Revoir- Good-bye_

___Oui, Peut-être que nous pouvons- Yes, maybe we can_

* * *

_October 1, 5:45 a.m., Fujioka Manor:_

It was a beautiful autumn day in Japan, the type that seemed straight out of a fairy tale.

The day was crisp and clear and the sky was breathtakingly blue; void of any sort of clouds Haruhi Fujioka stared at her reflection in the large mirror of her vanity, narrowing her innocent-looking brown eyes in thought.

"How... am I going to style my hair today?" she asked herself flatly, fingering a strand of her long, chocolate-colored hair in her hands. "Oh, man. This is such a pain,"

To be honest, she couldn't stand having long hair, but her dad, Ryoji Fujioka, liked it that way. And if there was one thing you didn't do, it was say no to Ryoji Fujioka.

Ryoji was [for reasons Haruhi couldn't understand] one of the most influential people in Japan and perhaps one of the richest people in the country, as well. His prestige and bank account balance had come at being the head of _Le Haruhi_; a fashion line that was right up there alongside all the other big designers you could think of. He was a boisterous and noisy sort of man, but everyone who met him loved him and always found it hard to deny him at all.

Including poor Haruhi.

It was embarrassing enough that she, a self-professed tomboy, was named after her dad's fashion line, but to make matters worse, her dad always insisted that she dress and look like a girly-girl; constantly buying her frilly outfits and cute, adorable things that made her cringe.

However, her dad was her dad, and the only family she had since her mom had...

Shaking her head hard, she quickly altered her train of thought.

No.

She most definitely didn't want to relive those memories; not after it had been so long and she'd become so accustomed to handling her emotions. Besides, thinking about... that... would bring her to tears. And the last thing she wanted was to cry right before school.

Which reminded her... she still had to wrap up getting ready for school.

Deciding to leave her hair alone for today since it was neat enough, she fixed the the red tie beneath the white collar of her long, yellow dress, she slipped into her patent leather Mary Jane shoes.

_"Ugh... more frills and frou-frou," _she couldn't help but think to herself.

Unlike her dad's doting girly-girl gifts, though, Haruhi couldn't just neglect this frilly outfit.

This frilly outfit was her school uniform.

Haruhi sighed at the thought.

As of one month ago, Haruhi was a freshman at the high-class, world-renowned Ouran Academy; a prestigious school where only the children of elites were allowed to go to (or rather, could afford to go to). School had started in September, a month before current, and so far, Haruhi had maintained the top grades in her class, won over every teacher, and had earned the hearts of numerous, lovestruck boys.

There were just two problems with Ouran Academy.

One was the frilly outfi-er-uniform.

Haruhi detested it; from it's girly vibe to the way it wrapped around her knees and made her trip, she was always just a half-a-breathe away from ripping it to shreds and ordering one of the Ouran Academy boy uniforms, instead. The second problem was something she herself wasn't particularly concerned about, but her dad was.

Friends.

Yes, Haruhi Fujioka... pretty, smart, talented, and wealthy Haruhi Fujioka... didn't have any friends. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She had one friend; a boy named Ritsu Kasanoda who'd instantly fallen in love with her at first sight. Since he was sort of shy around her, however, it was often hard to have any sort of conversation with him. Plus, since his family was the head of an infamous gang, Ryoji was pretty scared to let his sweet little daughter hang out with him for any prolonged time.

Aside from Kasanoda, though, Haruhi didn't have any friends in school. Not that it mattered, anyway. She'd always been sort of a loner, so it didn't particularly phase her. In fact, if her dad hadn't mentioned it to her that she needed to make some school friends, then she probably wouldn't've even noticed.

After her dad had all but panicked about her never "finding any friends" and living a "cold, sad life without any other 'family'" but him, however, she'd tried her best to find at least one or two other friends who'd hopefully appease her dad. Unfortunately, the closest she'd come was a hyper-active otaku in her class named Renge Houshakuji and, while Renge was altruistic and generally a nice person, she was almost always in a bit of a la-la land, had her moments where she was just plain scary, and was, more than anything, completely exhausting.

So now, a month into the start of the new school year and her first year in high school, Haruhi was pretty much friendless, much to Ryoji's dismay.

_"I guess money can't buy you everything,"_ Haruhi decided with a slight shrug as she headed out of her room and down the seemingly endless flight of stairs that led to one of the many living rooms in Fujioka Manor.

Just as she stepped on the last step, a blur of white and black caught her eyes and she glanced in the direction of where it went.

Sure enough, the white and black 'blur' was one of her many maids, only this one in particular seemed to be in quite a rush... not to mention Haruhi had never seen her before.

"Umm... excuse me?" Haruhi asked cautiously, walking into the living room warily. "Is something the matter?"

The maid immediately jumped and turned to face her; dropping the handful of linens she'd been holding in the proccess.

"Princess Fujioka!" she exclaimed, flustered, before curtsying multiple times. "I'm so sorry, miss, I didn't hear you come downstairs! Everything's fine, though, miss! There's no reason to worry about me, miss!"

Haruhi quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, alright," she replied blandly. "I'm glad to hear that. Can I by any chance ask you... who you are, though?"

The maid laughed nervously; tucking a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes and blushing deeply.

"I-I'm sorry, Princess Fujioka," the maid stammered, "You see, my name's Anne-Sophie. I applied for the job of your new maid, and I just arrived in Japan this morning to start my work,"

Haruhi sighed.

"Thank you, but I don't think that'll be neccessary," she said. "I already have seven maids on staff that're assigned to me. That's more than enough,"

Anne-Sophie, the maid, curtsied once again.

"_Pardonnez moi_, Princess Fujioka," she said politely. "But King Fujioka said that he'd wish to have another maid on-hand for you around the clock. I'm not sure exactly what he meant, but I believe it means that I'll be living here, unlike the other servants,"

Haruhi blinked.

"Wait? Dad actually asked you to live here just so you can be here for me whenever I need something?" she asked.

"_Oui_. To my understanding, that is," Anne-Sophie answered with a slight nod. "King Fujioka said that he'd be travelling throughout the autumn and winter months, so he'd appreciate it if I could keep an eye on his... how did he put it...? Ah... his "darling, little daughter","

Haruhi 'anime sweatdropped'.

"_Yep. That sounds like dad, alright,_" she thought quietly. "_Bringing in a new maid to keep an eye on me just because he's traveling a little. When will he learn that I'm completely capable of taking care of myself?_"

True to her wealthy upbringing, however, Haruhi's voiced reply was dignified and level; not showing one ounce of aggravation or resentment as she smiled slightly.

"Well, first of all, I'm not a princess," she stated. "And my dad's not a king. So you don't have to address us as 'Princess Fujioka' or 'King Fujioka'. Alright?"

Anne-Sophie nodded hastily.

"_Bien sûr_! _Bien sûr_!" she agreed (though Haruhi wasn't exactly sure what she was saying entirely). "But, perhaps, I could call you something formal in your own Japanese dialect, _non_?"

"Haruhi-san is fine," Haruhi said. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, that accent of your's... certain words you keep saying... they're not Japanese. Are you from a different country?"

For the first time since they'd been talking, Anne-Sophie smiled; a gentle, kind smile that made Haruhi herself relax a tad.

"_Tu as raison_, Haruhi-san," the maid said. "I just moved here from France with my son. My husband... died a few years ago, and we were left with quite a debt. In order to repay it, I have to work,"

Haruhi felt sympathy ease its way into her heart and her expression softened.

"I'm sorry about your husband," she apologized quietly, placing her hand on her new maid's shoulder. "And I promise you, you'll always have a job here at Fujioka Manor,"

Anne-Sophie's lavender eyes glistened with tears and for a minute, she looked like she would hug Haruhi.

In the next second, however, the clock struck 6:00 a.m., causing Haruhi to all but jump out of her skin in realization.

"Oh, no! I'm going to be late for school!" she exclaimed, racing toward the coatrack by the front door of the mansion and grabbing her coat from it hurriedly.

"Ummm... Haruhi-san," Anne-Sophie started worriedly as she followed the brown-haired girl into the main hallway. "If you'd like to, I could call for a limousine to take you to school,"

"No, that's alright, Anne-Sophie!" Haruhi called back to the maid as she yanked on her coat and headed to the dining room; taking whatever breakfast the chefs had left for her on the table and eating it vigurously.

"Really, Haruhi-san, it would be no problem at all!"

"No, it's alright! Really!"

"Are you sure? I don't mind,"

Haruhi scurried back into the main hall and opened the door, smiling at the maid as she did.

"Since you're new here, you probably don't know this," she started. "But I don't take limos to school. I actually take the bus,"

Anne-Sophie's eyes widened; clearly not sure why someone as rich as Haruhi who attended such an elite school would be taking a bus to Ouran Academy.

"_Je ne comprends pas_," the maid murmured. "A limousine would be much easier to take than a bus,"

Haruhi shrugged.

"I know," she agreed. "However, I have a reason I take the bus and not a limousine to school,"

"A... reason?"

"Yeah," Haruhi nodded. "You see, my dad and I had a deal. He'd let me enroll in Ouran Academy instead of one of these snobby all-girls school under one condition,"

"One condition?"

Clearly, the maid wasn't even close to figuring out what Haruhi was talking about.

Haruhi only smiled as she stepped outside the door.

"Our deal was he'd let me enroll in Ouran Academy given that I keep my wealth a secret from everyone else there," she explained.

"_Un secret_? But why?" Anne-Sophie quieried curiously.

"Because," Haruhi said as she started to close the mansion doors behind her. "My dad wants me to be able to make friends; true friends who won't just like me because of how wealthy I may be,"

Then, with a beaming smile, Haruhi waved slilghtly to Anne-Sophie.

"Bye, Anne-Sophie!" she said. "I suppose I'll see you later, then!"

Anne-Sophie nodded.

"_Oui_, Haruhi-san," she agreed. "Until we meet again, _au revoir_!"

Laughing, Haruhi closed the door behind her.

"Who knows? Maybe we can even study some French," she told her maid just before the door shut.

Anne-Sophie grinned warmly as she watched Haruhi bound off down the pathway of Fujioka Manner and almost trip over a gardner in the proccess before apologizing and racing through the gates towards the nearest bus stop.

"_Oui. Peut-être que nous pouvons_," the new maid said quietly; answering Haruhi's suggestion before she'd left for school.

Somehow, Anne-Sophie had the feeling she'd enjoy this new job.

* * *

**A couple more things before I go :)**

**1. I like to keep things moral and dislike controversy. Therefore, there'll be no yuri/yaoi, cursing, and Nekozawa will be the president of the wannabe-magician's club or something like that (his series' club theme has too many horror stories behind it, from what I've heard). Don't like, don't have to read. But if you don't like and still do read, then I hope we can be friends ^_^**

**2. This, as everybody can tell, is a role reversal fanfic :) That means Haruhi's rich and everyone else is pretty much broke. Well, at least the rest of the other hosts XD **

**3. I love suggestions and try to incorporate each of them :) OC's are also very much welcome and very much appreciated :) I'll be sure to post an OC form on one of the chappie specials :)**

**4. This fanfic will be a 100-chappie fanfic :) Then again, it might be longer. I love OHSHC, and I really love writing about the characters**

**5. ... I'm insane, can't write worth a lick, and am a total dimwit. So I'm so sorry that I'm wasting your time here... TT_TT **

**Thank you to all who read and review! I really love it, although I don't deserve it in the slightest! TTUTT**


	2. Prélude à la Beauté

**Chidsengan: And here we are, everyone, chappie two of 'Our World of Beauty'! *thinks it over* Although, considering the first 'chappie' was actually more of a prologue than anything else, I guess you could say that this... is where the real story starts! *spins around happily; random sparkles and roses gathering as she does***

**Hikaru: *appears out of nowhere* Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Kaoru?**

**Kaoru: *also appears out of nowhere* Sadly, yes...**

**Hikaru: ... I never thought...**

**Kaoru: ... that there was someone out there...**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: ... who acted exactly like... 0.0 ... _him*_... (*_him = Tamaki_)**

**Chidsengan: ^_^ Hikaru! Kaoru! You're here! *hugs them both* I was worried you wouldn't be able to make it!**

**Hikaru: -_- We weren't planning to...**

**Kaoru: -_- But a certain _money-grubbing Shadow King_ figured the Host Club could benefit from it, so... here we are.**

**Chidsengan: ^_^ Then, please, send my regards and thanks to your money-grubbing Shadow King for me!**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: Yeah, whatever, can we just get to the main part of the A/N already?**

**Chidsengan: ^_^ Alright! Well, first things first, thank you so much to everyone who's read and reviewed this fanfic so far! I never expected to get even ONE review, let alone THREE! It not only makes my day to read all the kind words that you write, but it completes my very existence! My life is worth nothing without your support, and even with it, I'm unworthy of your kindness; a mere shell of patheticness that doesn't deserve to have even a single read or review!**

**Hikaru: Unbelievable. She's exactly like the boss*! (*_boss = Tamaki_)**

**Kaoru: And just like the boss, I'm pretty sure she means every word...**

**Chidsengan: Of course I do! And, while I can never repay you all for everything you've done for me, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who R&R'd this fanfic so far!:**

**OfTheAsianPersausion**

**azure blue espeon**

**Fleeting Butterfly (Yay! I love Kaoru, too! ^_^)**

**DragonSiren7 (don't worry, I'll give you a crash course in OHSHC ^_^)**

**And a big welcome to FrogCatcher2000 and ****Blu3P34r1****! Thank you so much for following this fanfic! I'm so glad to have two new friends! ^_^**

**Kaoru: Umm... don't you think it's kind of _early on in this fanfic_ to be calling everyone your friend?**

**Chidsengan: Not at all! Everyone's my friend! ^_^**

**Hikaru: -_- ... what do you mean you love KAORU?**

**Chidsengan: Because I do! ^_^**

**Hikaru: YOU CAN'T LIKE ONE TWIN AND NOT THE OTHER!**

**Kaoru: ... she never said she did...**

**Chidsengan: *ignores Kaoru completely* So what if I do, Hikaru?**

**Kaoru: ... although now she kind of _implied_ that she did...**

**Chidsengan: The important thing is, I do not own OHSHC or any of the characters! So much so, infact, that Haruhi's last-name school alias is actually ****an allusion to the person who invented Ouran, Bisco Hatori.**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: *clapping* Yay! The first normal thing she's said so far!**

**Chidsengan: On another note... *points at the twins* Do you know why you two are here?**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: .*stops clapping* ... because... we're you're latest victims of torture...?**

**Chidsengan: No! ^_^ It's because this is the chappie that you two are introduced! Surprise!**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: -_-**

**Chidsengan: ^_^ In fact, it's the first encounter the entire Host Club ever has! A momentous occassion!**

**Hikaru: ...**

**Kaoru: ...**

**Chidsengan: ^_^**

**Hikaru: So? What's momentous about that?**

**Chidsengan: 0.0**

**Kaoru: Yeah, it was bound to happen, eventually.**

**Chidsengan: ... but it means that the story's moving along... Q.Q**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: We guess so.**

**Chidsengan: ^_^**

**Hikaru: Of course, maybe if you could write worth anything it would be good news. But you're terrible.**

**Chidsengan: ... TT_TT ... it's true... I'm... useless...**

**Hikaru: *ignores her completely* Anyway, to wrap up this way-too-long-already A/N, we just have one more announcement to make...**

**Kaoru: ... it turns out that Chidsengan liked writing French words so much that she decided to give her chapters French titles from now on. This particular one translates to 'Prelude to Beauty'. ... -_- ... that's... pretty stupid...**

**Hikaru: *obviously in agreement* Yeah, what do you do, Chidsengan? Think of these kooky chapter names in your sleep?**

**Chidsengan: *slumps in a dark corner***

**Hikaru: 0.0**

**Kaoru: 0.0**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: 0.0 She really is just like _that dunce_*... (*_that dunce = Tamaki_)**

* * *

_Thank you and please, I hope you all enjoy it all somewhat (or at least have a good laugh at my terrible writing skills)! _

* * *

For Haruhi, attending Ouran Academy one day had never been something that required much debating.

It had, after all, been her dream to attend the school from the time she was three-years-old.

Both her parents had been Ouran Academy alumni back in the day; she'd grown up hearing stories upon stories of their time at the prestigious school and would spend hours listening to them reminisce about the "good old days at Ouran". The last name Fujioka was pretty much legendary within the academy, and her dad was invested in numerous stock with Ouran. Her mother had also been one of the main financial sponsors for the prestigious school, as well.

However, what'd sparked Haruhi's own love for the academy hasn't been stories or stock or financial support.

What had originally sparked Haruhi's love for Ouran Academy was when her parents had shown her a scrapbook filled with photos and keepsakes from their Ouran days. She remembered how happy her parents had seemed in the photos... _how happy it'd made her parents to see the photos again_... and couldn't help but feel as if that happy place, Ouran Academy, was where she belonged, too.

So when she'd turned fifteen in February of that year, she'd immediately set out to make her dreams of attending Ouran Academy a reality.

Being as bright as she was, Haruhi had passed their entrance exam with ease, and, being the child of two Ouran alumni, as well as a Fujioka, she was assigned to the best class with the best teacher (not to mention the faculty had gone above and beyond the call of duty in providing her with a uniform and school supplies free of cost).

At the start of the school year, however, she'd thrown the staff of the school for a complete loop when she told them she'd attend Ouran Academy under one condition, and that was that no one could know she was a Fujioka.

It goes without saying that they were astounded.

The Fujioka Family was highly regarded in Japan, and their wealth was staggering; so much so, in fact, that even in Ouran, a school for children of only the most prestigious, Haruhi would be one of the richest students, if not _the_ richest student, there.

Any school would've been ecstatic to have a Fujioka attending, it was, after all, a huge honor. Yet Haruhi had asked them to do the unthinkable and erase the fact she was of such esteemed heritage if she was to attend Ouran.

The Ouran staff, though not quite sure why, eventually obliged to Haruhi's request (because she was still a Fujioka, even if she tried to hide it), and promised her that not only would they keep her last name a secret, but that they'd do anything else in their power to assist her in whatever else she would need.

Which was why, standing outside of Ouran Academy that morning wasn't Haruhi Fujioka, daughter of one of the richest men in Japan, but rather Haruhi Hatori; an average, middle-class student who'd gotten into Ouran Academy by means of a scholarship (at least, that was the life story the Ouran faculty had conjured for her).

Haruhi didn't mind. Actually, she rather enjoyed being know as a 'commoner' among the other students. Being a 'commoner' meant that no one was expecting anything of her; that she could act in whichever way she pleased without having to constantly worry about how her behavior would influence her dad or reflect on her family name (not to say she was a rebellious person who wanted to party and behave irresponsibly. She didn't. She just wasn't fond of feeling like she was constantly being looked at under a proverbial magnfying glass).

Besides, Haruhi didn't need her last name to enjoy life at Ouran Academy. Just being there, at such an incredible school, was more than enough.

Ouran Academy was, without a doubt, beautiful in every way.

The academy itself wasn't just one, but three individual schools for elementary, middle, and high school students; each divided from one another by sweeping walkways and courtyards that looked like they were straight out of a fairytale.

A collection of towering buildings that dated back to Victorian days, Ouran Academy's brilliance wasn't just in it's elegant, vintage appeal, but in the sheer excellence of everything it owned. Gorgeous landscaping, sweeping topiaries, and gardens on top of gardens of gardenias, hydrangeas, and every other flower one could think of were second nature to the students of Ouran, as were luxurious fountains and acres of land devoted to every sort of sport imaginable. They even had a maze full of each and every different types of roses, a place where most of the romantic stories of Ouran bloomed.

The inside was even more captivating; filled through with ball and music rooms, spiral stairways, and what was probably the largest cafeteria in existence (not to mention the food there was always prepared by gourmet chefs).

Over the years, Ouran Academy had garnered many names, but out of all of them, a French newspaper had dubbed it the most accurately: _'U__ne Aire de Jeux Élégante pour la Riche et Belle__'_.

Translation: 'An Elegant Playground for the Rich and Beautiful'.

Sighing as she gazed up at one the many academy buildings before her, Haruhi clung to her leather briefcase all the more tightly.

In all honesty, she felt incredibly small standing in front of Ouran... yet there was a certain feeling of contentment that came with it; something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but nonetheless had her believing that there was no place on Earth that she would rather be.

With a slight smile, she weaved her way through the multiple students gathered on the Ouran Academy walkways towards the school's high school entrance.

It was always crowded outside right before school started, as everyone tried their best to meet up with their friends and get in a couple extra minutes of talking and socializing.

For some reason, the north high school building entrance seemed to consistently be the most populated, with not just high-schoolers, but middle and elementary school students gathering on the walkway; either to say a final 'farewell' to their older siblings or just to come and get a peek of what high school life was like.

Haruhi could make out several elementary students to her right, while there were a few middle-schoolers to her left. The high-schoolers were casually socializing with them, as well, not acting the way typical teenagers would behave towards those younger than themselves. Then again, gaps in age never really seemed to matter all that much to the welathy. Most children who came from prestigious families were taught to treat others politely and with respect, regardless of their age... or anything else, for that matter (because for all you knew, the person you were treating mean was actually the child of your parents' business partner). Whatever the reason, the layback attitude between different school year students only added to Ouran's harmonious vibe and only added to the school's charm.

"Good morning, Haruhi!"

Haruhi glanced up slightly to see a group of first-year girls standing in front of her; one a redhead, the other a brunette, and another with straight black hair. Haruhi quickly recognized them as students from class 1-B and returned their smiles with one of her own. She wasn't in the same class as they were and they didn't talk much to eachother, but the girls always made it a point to greet her in the morning.

"You're here a little later than you usually are!" the brunette (the daughter of a self-made entreprenuer) said kindly.

Haruhi gave a slight shrug.

"I was up late last night studying," she stated simply. "By the time I woke up, it was almost time for school,"

"We were up late, too," the redhead (the daughter of a silk manufacturer, if Haruhi remembered correctly) sighed sympathetically. "Our maids even felt bad about having to wake us up so early we were so tired,"

"Yes," the brunette nodded. "It was tragic,"

Haruhi couldn't help but 'anime sweatdrop' slightly at the use of the word 'tragic' over something so... menial... while the girl with black hair (twho was the daughter of... oh, yeah, an actress and an investor) turned to her friends with a surprised yet stern expression.

"Not in front of Haruhi, you two!" she scolded them. "You know you shouldn't comment on our problems with our servants around her! She's a commoner! She couldn't possibly understand what we're talking about!"

"Oh, you're right!" redhead exclaimed.

"We're so sorry, Haruhi!" the brunette apologized quickly, giving a small bow of shame.

Although she probably should've felt some sort of offense at being called a 'commoner' and the like, the girls had said their statements with such innocence, free of any intent of malice, that Haruhi overlooked their demeaning comments.

"No, don't worry. It's alright," she said hastily. "I've, um, heard how maids can be,"-a mental image of her newest one, Anne-Sophie, immediately came to mind-"A lot of them seem to really care about the people they wait on... or, at least, from what I've been told,"

Silence.

Then, the air grew shrill as the three girls squealed adoringly.

"Oh, Haruhi! You're so sweet when you try to understand the lives of the wealthy!" the brunette exclaimed.

"You're like an adorable little girl sometimes!" the redhead agreed.

"You're innocence is exactly why you should be the most popular girl in Ouran!" the black-haired one chimed.

Haruhi mentally facepalmed.

Sometimes, she was really glad no one knew she was in the same tax bracket as the students at Ouran.

Still squealing, the girls gave Haruhi a short set of waves before bounding off towards the school doors.

"We'd love to talk more, Haruhi!" the redhead called. "But we have to get to class, now!"

"Maybe we'll see eachother after school, though!" the black-haired one agreed.

"It was great speaking to you!" the brunette said.

"Good-bye!" the trio declared in unison as they headed out of sight.

As she watched them leave, Haruhi shook her head in exasperation.

People at Ouran Academy were odd... but all the people she'd met so far had been nothing if not friendly to her (despite her not having any close friends). Even if they were kind of oblivious and lived in their own little worlds of rich people (something sensible Haruhi, despite being wealthy, had never succumbed to), she was happy that the students were kind and pleasant, as opposed to some of the rowdier kids she'd seen at other academies who'd wanted her attendance.

Haruhi's thoughts were abruptly interrupted, however, when she felt someone bump into her from behind; so hard that it knocked her down and sent her briefcase flying, along with the books in it.

"What the-?" her sentence was cut short when a sharp pain shot through the knee that'd taken the brunt of her fall.

Glancing down at it, she saw that, along with having broken skin, her knee was already becoming bruised... not to mention it was already swelling pretty badly.

"Ouch," she muttered. "What in the world did-?"

"You should really watch where you're going, you know that?"

Whirling around in surprise, Haruhi glanced up and found herself staring into not one, but _two_ pairs of piercing amber eyes.

Eyes she immediately recognized belonged to the last two people she wanted to see.

The owners of the eyes were two, slender boys that looked completely identical to one another, except that one had his messy, reddish-orange hair parted to the right and one had his parted to the left. Their looks were just the start of it; the two were currently even _posed_ the same way; defensively, with their arms folded over their chests; their obviously irritated (for some reason) aura directed at Haruhi and Haruhi alone.

The girl bit back the urge to cringe at seeing them.

So far, everyone she'd met at Ouran Academy had been nothing but friendly to her...

Everyone except the two boys standing over her.

In fact, it wasn't just her they weren't nice to, it was everyone in the entire school... something that had gained them the nickname of "The Twin Troublemakers of Ouran Academy".

Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin.

Haruhi knew very little about them, despite the fact that they were in the same class as she was and she sat between them; either twin occupying both the desks to her right and left. However, even without knowing much about them, Haruhi knew that they weren't any good. They had a reputation that more than proceeded them; a reputation of pranks, mischief, and all-around bad attitude that had swept through the gossip of Ouran like a flashfire.

Their reputation, however, was just the start of it.

From the time Hikaru and Kaoru entered Ouran Academy, they'd stuck out like sore thumbs for multiple reasons.

Rebellious and hard-headed, the twins had earned themselves a plethora of attention by talking back to every teacher in school, picking fights with the entire student body, and starting multiple food fights. Rumor had it that, upon arriving at Ouran, they'd even refused to wear the academy uniform (the fact they were currently dressed in baggy jackets, long-sleeved shirts, and jeans was proof).

For sure, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin were hardly two people you'd want to run into; especially if you were by yourself and they seemed to be looking for a fight (i.e. Haruhi's current situation). Most people would run away just based on that simple basis.

Unfortunately, Haruhi wasn't that kind of person; whether she was using the last name Fujioka or Hatori, she didn't tolerate bullies.

"Don't you two have anything _better_ to do then go bumping into people?" Haruhi asked flatly, brushing the dust from her dress before collecting the books that had fallen.

A pair of devious smirks met her query.

"We might..." one of the twins said with a slight snicker.

"... but you just happened to be in our way," said the other, picking up in perfect unision where his twin had left off.

"Well, _excuse me_, but if I was _in your way_, you both could've just walked around me," Haruhi responded coldly. "I don't see any reason for why you had to bang into me like that,"

The twins shared a glance between them, then looked back at Haruhi with bored expressions.

"Are you expecting an apology or something like that?" one of the twins asked flatly.

Haruhi's brown eyes narrowed challengingly.

"No," she said. "Nor would I expect it from _you two_,"

In the next moment, she found herself regretting her words when she saw both boys' eyes flash in anger.

"You wouldn't expect it from us?" the twin with the left hair part queried, his voice a low growl.

"Yeah, what are you getting at, exactly?" the twin with his hair parted to the right added. "That you're better than us or something like that?"

"At least I have manners," Haruhi remarked.

"And you're saying we don't?" the twins chorused in perfect unison.

Everything in Haruhi was telling her not to snap back at the boys, warning her against it, yet for some reason, she couldn't help it; these two irked her, and they'd already caused enough trouble at her beloved school to continue irking her for an entire milennia.

"I'm saying you two don't belong at Ouran," she said, her voice like ice. "It doesn't matter how rich you are. Anyone that acts the way you do... is nothing but-"

She stopped suddenly when she saw the Hitachiins heated glowers that were fixed on her; an unwelcome chill coursing through her body.

Now she'd done it.

She'd gotten the meanest, most problematic students at Ouran Academy on her bad side... and what was worse, she didn't even have any friends to back her up if something happened (worst case scenario: an all-out brawl. The Hitachiin brothers were famous for them).

Stupid bluntness.

"Look, I don't want any trouble," Haruhi said hastily, turning her back to them and starting to walk off as quickly as her injured knee would allow her. "Just leave me alone, would you?"

She barely got four steps away before one of the twins grabbed onto her right wrist tightly and yanked her back towards them.

"And where do you think you're heading off to, Little Miss Big-Mouth?" the twin that wasn't grasping her wrist (the one with the left part) asked menacingly.

"You think you can talk to us like that and get away with it?" the other queried.

Both of them glared at her hotly.

"You've got another thing coming, girly," the said together in perfect unison.

Haruhi frantically struggled to yank her wrist away from the twin that was holding her, but to no avail.

"Let. Me. Go!" she demanded, raising her voice as loudly as she could in hopes that someone would notice what was going on (again, to no avail).

"Not until you say you're sorry," the left-part twin made his and his brother's terms clear.

"Why should I?! You didn't apologize when you deliberately rammed into me!" Haruhi countered.

"Then we're not letting you go," the right-part twin stated.

Haruhi tensed and grit her teeth as the right-part twin's grip tightened around her wrist even more; silently reviewing the limited options she had to get herself out of the jam she was in.

She could've tried fighting the twins on her own, but two-against-one wasn't very good odds (and even if it were, she knew she wasn't nearly strong enough to take on even one of the twins). She was also sure that, given the rumors of their schoolyard fights were true, the Hitachiins wouldn't play fair if she and they fought one another. Then there was her injured knee, which only added to her disadvantage. Besides, Haruhi didn't exactly want to fight. She just wanted to get out of their grip.

With option one exhausted, she mentally examined option two, which was no better than the first.

Calling out to people for help.

The crowds outside of Ouran Academy had already dispersed with the final bell ready to ring at any minute. In fact, she and the Hitachiin brothers seemed to be the only people still standing in the entrance (_of course_, was the sarcastic thought that stood out in her thoughts). Not like it mattered, anyway. The people at Ouran were nice, but their idea of 'helping' was something along the lines of 'race-through-the-entire-school-to-get-the-chairman-and-make-him-set-things-straight-with-the-bullies-but-by-the-time-he-got-there-it-would-already-be-too-late'.

There was always option three: just say sorry and get it over with. Problem was, for some reason, Haruhi's pride seemed to be winning over her logic and she found herself unable to say the words.

Fujiokas never apologized, even when they were at fault (which happened very rarely). And even though this whole situation was partly her fault, Haruhi didn't see it that way at all.

Apologizing was taboo to Fujiokas; apologizing for something that you didn't even think was your fault when you were a Fujioka, though? Completely out of the question.

Or, at least, it would've been... had the twin that was holding her wrist not been tightening his grip with every second that passed.

"Ready to apologize yet?" the twin holding her captive asked.

Haruhi glowered at him angrily.

"No," she said stubbornly.

The twins shared a glance, then looked back at her; giving a pair of simultaneous scoffs.

"Oh, well... that's too bad, isn't it?" the twin with his hair parted to the left snickered.

"Looks like we're just going to have to..."-the other smirked-"_Twist you arm_ a little,"

The grasp on her wrist suddenly became more painful as Haruhi realized that the twin that was mimicking his words with his actions; twisting her wrist in such a way that Haruhi gasped in pain.

"A-alright!" she shouted.

The twins stopped and glanced at her expectantly.

"'Alright', what?" the prodded.

Haruhi lowered her head, her entire body feeling heavy as lead as she spoke.

"I'm... sorry..." she finally managed to mutter begrudgingly.

The twin with his hair parted to the left shared yet another glance with his brother, then gazed back at Haruhi with a pair of conspiritorial smirks.

"Apology accepted," they said in unision.

...

To Haruhi's surprise, however, they still didn't let go.

"Okay, you guys got what you wanted," Haruhi exclaimed, addressing the twin that wasn't holding onto her (i.e. the one that seemed to be the leader of the two). "Now can you tell your brother to let me go?"

"Not yet,"

"What?!"

The twin with the left-hair-part shrugged as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"We want to make sure that if we let you go, you're not going to go snitch on us," he said coolly.

Haruhi's eyes narrowed angrily.

"Our agreement was you'd let me go if I said sorry!" she shouted. "Now do it!"

To her surprise, however, a pair of sacryn smiles and cold glances was what she received in reply.

"Did you hear that, Kaoru?" the twin with the left part, the one she could now identify as Hikaru, sniggered.

"Yeah," Kaoru added, seeming to almost read his brother's thoughts. "But I don't seem to remember ever making any deal with her,"

"Me, either,"

Haruhi growled slightly and gave another small yank in a futile attempt to break free.

"What is it with you two?!" she yelled at them. "If you were worried about me snitching on you two, then you shouldn't have bothered me in the first place!"

"You insulted us," the reply was made in easy unison.

"I wouldn't have even said anything to you if you hadn't gone starting trouble with me!"

"We already told you, we weren't starting trouble. You were in our way,"

"And I already told you that you're wrong!"

Giving a small shriek, Haruhi mustered all her strength to try and pull out of Kaoru'sgrip, only to have Hikaru grab her left wrist.

"Man, she sure is feisty, isn't she, Kaoru?" Hikaru smirked.

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed.

"Imagine, a scholarship student thinking of herself as above us," Hikaru scoffed at the thought. "I hate kids like that. They really get under my skin,"

Haruhi stopped trying to pull away from the twins for a moment and instead looked at them with as much sympathy as she could muster; hoping she looked convincingly empathetic enough to tug at their heartstrings a tad (given they had hearts, that was).

"Look, I wasn't thinking I was above you or anything like that," she said levelly. "And I'm sorry if you felt that way... but I'm not going to tell anyone about what happened... I promise. So please... just let me go,"

What she said wasn't entirely accurate; she was still planning on telling someone at Ouran about her and the Hitachiins little encounter, but the twins didn't need to know that.

Hikaru and Kaoru seemed to ponder what Haruhi had said for a moment; amber eyes taking in the girl's apologetic expression and pleading eyes...

... before the twins could answer, though, a sudden, unfamiliar voice from the three of their's pierced through the air and each of them turned their attentions towards where it was coming from.

"Look at it! It's as big as I remember it! Ouran Academy! Ah! Every day I see you, I fall in love with you all the more! Your clock tower! Your archways! You're gardens!-" the person the voice belonged to, a boy around Haruhi and the twin's age, stopped babbling as he noticed the Hitachiin brothers and Haruhi in front of him-"-your... students who are blocking my way inside?" he finished in a confused tone of voice.

Haruhi, despite her current predicament, couldn't help but 'anime sweatdrop' slightly.

_Blocking his way_?

Honestly, what did people at this school have against _walking around_ someone to get where they needed to go?

"What seems to be the problem?"

Haruhi, the Hitachiins, and the new boy all glanced over their shoulder to see another boy, also about the same age as they were, walking towards them; his hands filled with two briefcases, one of them, they guessed, that probably belonged to the briefcase-less new boy.

The 'new boy' pointed to Haruhi and the twins.

"These two dopplegangers seem to be in the middle of some romantic endeavor with this young lady!" he exclaimed (a statement that made both Haruhi's and the Hitachiin brother's eyes widen a tad; nothing could've been less accurate). "If my speculations are correct, it appears that these two boys are fighting for the affection of this lovely girl! The doppleganger holding onto her right wrist must be the one she's currently dating, while the other is merely a victim of tragedy; he wants to attain the love of the beautiful young lady, but yet he's torn between taking the girlfriend of his doppleganger or living a life of solitude! Which brings us to our current scene right here!"

...

Silence.

It was as if the mood had suddenly become much more... stupid...

"Actually..." Hikaru started.

"... that's not it at all..." Kaoru ended his brother's sentence.

The new boy looked dumbstruck.

"WHAT?! BUT I COULD'VE BEEN SURE THAT WAS WHAT WAS GOING ON!" he screeched.

"Nope, not at all," the Hitachiin brothers said plainly.

"I told you not to get lost in your little delusions," the 'new boy's' friend sighed, either not noticing or just not caring that his friend was crying comical, anime-esque tears beside him.

Haruhi's mind seemed to shut down for a moment, all prior thoughts of escaping from the Hitachiin brothers or anything else suddenly becoming completely blank as she stared at the two new boys in front of her.

One, the first one that'd approached them, was blonde with violet eyes (which were moist from tears at the moment). Haruhi couldn't tell if he was wearing the Ouran Academy uniform because of the jacket he was wearing, but being as perceptive as she was, she couldn't help but notice that the hem of his black pants were carefully stitched up, for some reason.

The blonde's friend was the complete opposite of him in terms of looks, and, judging from what she'd seen so far, in personality, too. The second boy had black hair and dark, brown eyes, although Haruhi could barely make them out because of the glint from the glasses he was wearing. He was dressed in the Ouran Academy uniform, although Haruhi didn't fail to realize that it was sort of an awkward fit, in terms that it sort of hung on him (not to mention she wasn't sure why he wasn't wearing a jacket on such a cold day).

"Hey, I know you two," Hikaru started suddenly, snapping Haruhi out of her thoughts. "You're those kids from class 2-A..."

"... yeah, the ones that walk to school all the time," Kaoru added for his twin.

The dark-haired boy seemed vaguely agitated by the comment, while the blonde merely smiled.

"Well, why shouldn't we?" he started cheerfully. "Who would take an automobile when you can tour the scenic route by foot? Especially at this time of year! The last of the leaves are falling from the trees, the air is becoming more brisk; it's the farewell to autumn and the greeting of winter! At this time of year, it would simply be a crime to drive and be driven to school, not when there's beauty all around you! You must appreciate the wonder of nature by embracing it, even if it means walking miles upon miles to reach you destination and-"

The blonde's incescant chattering was cut short as his friend grabbed him by the ear roughly.

"Speaking of destinations, there happen to be classes that we should be attending inside rather than talking out here," he said coolly as the blonde whined.

"That's not fair!"

"Yes, it is. Now stop whining. You sound like a child,"

"Well you're acting like my mother!"

"How very unfortunate for me,"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Never mind that..."-the blonde's friend gazed at Hikaru and Kaoru coldly-"My concern is what you're doing to this young lady,"

Haruhi started.

Oh, yeah... she'd almost forgotten...

The twins still hadn't let go of her.

"Her knee's injured," Hikaru said calmly.

"We were going to take her to the school nurse," Kaoru agreed.

The raven-haired boy didn't seem to be buying it.

The blonde, on the other hand, immediately jumped in happily.

"THEN I, TOO, SHALL ACCOMPANY YOU!" he exclaimed. "LEAD ON, YOUNG DOPPLEGANGERS!"

Hikaru and Kaoru grit their teeth; resisting the urge to snap at the blonde as his raven-haired friend stared them down coolly.

"Let her go," he demanded, the words seeming to chill the air even more than it was.

The Hitachiins returned the challenge with a glower.

"Why?" they asked in unison.

"Because any form of harrassment is in direct violation of the school code," the blonde's friend continued simply. "And unless you want the entire school to know about this... well... I'll let you figure out the rest..."

At the word 'harrassment', the hyperactive blonde stopped babbling about whatever it was he was talking about and glanced between them all, his mouth hanging agape at what he'd just heard.

"Harrassment?!" he screeched in horror. "You mean-? I-? Why-? What on Earth do you have against this young lady?!"

"She rubbed us the wrong way," the Hitachiins declared.

The blonde's face flushed in rage (quite an emotional guy, wasn't he?).

"That's no excuse!" he said, his voice now threatening. "You... _delinquents_ let go of her this instant!"

Haruhi winced as she saw the twins' expressions turn from one of anger into ones of complete... treacherous intent.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she prepared for the worst...

... only to feel the grip on her wrists finally release.

"Alright, we'll forget about her for a moment," Hikaru said. "However..."-he immediately grabbed the blonde by his shirt collar-"You're going to pay, instead!"

"Yeah, no one calls us delinquents!" Kaoru agreed furiously.

The blonde's angered expression turned into one of pure fear as he gave a small squeak before narrowly avoiding Hikaru's punch and quickly cowered behind his friend.

"AH! The dopplegangers are attacking us!" he screeched.

"Attacking _you_. I don't think they have much of a quarrel with me," the raven-haired boy said plainly.

"Does it really matter?! Save me!"

"You don't think we have a quarrel with you, four-eyes?" Kaoru asked the blonde's friend in a threatening tone. "You've got another thing coming!"

"You'll both be lucky if you make it out of her with a couple welts!" Hikaru put in.

In the next moment and before Haruhi could comprehend what was going on, exactly, Hikaru and Kaoru were aiming punches at the two other boys, both of whom were trying their best to dodge (and, in the blonde's case, 'dodge' was more of a 'be-pulled-out-of-the-line-of-fire-by-your-friend' kind of thing).

Haruhi could only watch on in horror, too scared to move; unable to push the thought that, somehow, this was all her fault from her mind.

Her senses finally came back to her when Hikaru landed a well-aimed punch on the blonde's jaw, knocking the boy down, before they turned to the raven-haired student.

"You're next," Kaoru stated; his brother coming up behind him with clenched fists.

Haruhi suddenly sprinted forward and grabbed onto both twins' arms in an attempt to hold them back.

"That's enough!" she ordered. "Stop fighting! I'm the one you're angry at!"

"WOULD YOU GET OUT OF OUR WAY ALREADY/!"

The twins pushed the young Fujioka and she stumbled back shakily; her injured knee buckling out from under her as she lost her balance.

Bracing herself for the impact, Haruhi closed her eyes...

... before she could hit the ground, however, she found herself steadied by someone's gentle hands resting on her back.

"Are you alright?"

Haruhi started at the voice; a voice so... _young_...

An elementary student? Middle-schooler?

Glancing up at the person who'd 'saved' her, Haruhi's heart skipped a beat or two in shock.

The person who'd saved her was a boy who, judging by his Ouran uniform, must've been a highschool student... however, he looked barely older than twelve (thirteen at the very most). His face was child-like, and he just barely stood five feet tall (maybe even a little less). The boy had honey blonde hair and large, brown eyes. Because of his admittedly cute appearance, Haruhi almost wasn't surprised that the boy had a pink plush toy that looked like a rabbit tucked under his arms (_almost_. It was still shocking that any high-schooler would have the _gall_ to carry a stuffed animal in public).

"Are you alright?" the small high-schooler (who Haruhi immediately nicknamed 'lolita-boy') repeated, and Haruhi could've sworn she saw tiny, pink flowers (a result of his adorable demeanor) floating around his head as he spoke.

"Ummm... yeah... thanks," Haruhi managed to stammer out.

By now, the twins, the blonde, and the raven-haired boy had noticed the lolita-boy and Hikaru and Kaoru took it upon themselves to glare at the boy.

"What do you want, pipsqueak?" Hikaru asked bluntly.

To Haruhi's amazement, the small highschooler didn't even flinch at the insult; in fact, he seemed surprisingly... calm.

"I was just saw you all standing over here and wanted to make sure everything was alright," the boy stated levelly.

Kaoru matched the lolita-boy's query with a glower identical to his brother's.

"What's it to you?" he growled.

The lolita-boy looked at Haruhi, then at the blonde and his friend, then at the twins, before his lips formed into a tight line of sorts; an expression of concern momentarily flashing over his face.

"Because," he started somberly. "It's not nice... to bully other people..."

Kaoru glanced at his brother slightly at the declaration, as if in wait for further directions, to which his twin merely smirked.

"Oh it's not?" he sneered at lolita-boy.

The smaller boy stood his ground; brown eyes flashing in determination.

"No," he said seriously.

"Well, I disagree," Hikaru asked. "I think bullying... toughens people up a bit,"

The lolita-boy shook his head hard.

"You're just being mean," he said. "Stop it. You shouldn't hurt anyone,"

"Well-put, Mr. Small High-schooler!" the stupid blonde exclaimed from where he was on the ground. "You tell them!"

"Don't you think you've gotten in _enough_ trouble today?" the raven-haired boy sighed tiredly at his friend's outburst.

Hikaru ignored the blonde, however, and kept his glare fixed on the lolita-boy, who stared him down with an equal ammount of intensity.

"Don't hurt them," he said sternly.

"And who's going to make me?" Hikaru growled, grabbing the lolita-boy by his shirt collar.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a giant shadow loomed over them all and a deep, baritone voice sounded from behind them.

"Me,"

Everyone's attention was immediately diverted from Hikaru and the lolita-boy to the person casting the shadow behind them...

... and all their mouths, with the exception of the lolita-boy's, dropped open in surprise.

The boy standing behind them wasn't just a boy, but moreso an imposing, intimidating figure; a giant that stood well over six feet tall with spiky, black hair and intense, gray eyes.

Gray eyes that didn't seem to be particularly happy with any of them at the moment.

The blonde that was sitting on the ground gave a shrill 'eep!' before comically bounding off the ground and into the arms of his raven-haired friend, who struggled to stay balanced under the blonde's weight, while Hikaru immediately took a few steps away from the lolita-boy (i.e. what seemed to be the giant's source of attention); chuckling nervously as he did.

"H-hey... take it easy, now," he stammered, his arrogance and cockiness all but non-existent. "W-we weren't doing anything to him... just talking..."

The giant, however, didn't seem to be buying it.

"Just talking?" he asked coolly, his very voice a foreboding sort of stoic that prompted yet another frightened scream from a certain, cowering blonde.

"Y-yeah!" Hikaru said hastily, taking a step back shakily. "We weren't going to hurt him! Honest!"

The giant didn't say a word.

He only kept his gaze fixed on Hikaru; a gaze that, in itself, seemed to be enough to crush the Hitachiin.

"It's okay, Takashi,"

The sudden declaration from the lolita-boy caught the giant's (or, as he could now be identified as _Takashi's_) attention and he turned to him with a stern expression, though, once again, he said nothing.

"It was my fault," the lolita-boy continued, hugging his stuffed animal tightly. "I just wanted to make sure they were being nice to this nice girl, is all. I shoulda' just minded my own, business, though. I'm sorry. I won't do it again,"

Haruhi's glance wandered from the lolita-boy to 'Takashi' curiously, wondering just what the intimidating boy would say.

Obviously nothing had been the little high-schooler's fault... it didn't take having to witness the fight from the start to see that it'd been the Hitachiins who'd been the cause of all the trouble. Yet the lolita-boy was willing to take the fall for them. 'Why' Haruhi wasn't sure of, but if she had to guess, it probably had something to do with the fact that this 'Takashi' would clobber the twins if he didn't.

The atmosphere was so tense it was practically tangible; time and everything else seeming to stand still as the group waited for the giant's response.

After what seemed like forever, 'Takashi' finally close his eyes and pivoted on his heel.

"Don't let something like this happen again," he said coldly; authoritatively.

Hikaru and Kaoru cringed in fear, and Haruhi felt a shiver race down her own spine at the cool demand.

"D-don't worry!" the hyper-active blonde behind her laughed nervously. "We won't! Not us! Not at all! We'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again! From now on, we'll all be a happy family full of love, laughter, and friendship!"-he looked around at the rest of them hopefully, obviously desperate for support of his statement-"R-right? Everyone? Anyone?"

To his dismay, everyone remained completely silent; from the twins to his own raven-haired friend, who, while he seemed to be the most calm out of all of them, was still eying 'Takashi' with slight worry.

Ironically, it was 'Takashi' who gave the blonde's exclamation the most attention; casting a short glance towards the boy in recognition (although the blonde mistook the glance as one of malice rather than one of acknowledgement and shrieked in fright once again).

They all stood in silence, the final bell tolling throughout Ouran being the only sound that was heard as they looked between one another...

After what seemed like forever, the giant turned his gaze to the lolita-boy.

"Let's go. We're late to class," he said calmly before he began to walk away.

Lolita-boy nodded slightly.

"Coming, Takashi!" he called, bounding at the heels of the taller boy without sparing so much as a 'good-bye' to the rest of them (although Haruhi couldn't really blame him).

As soon as the two of them were gone, the remaining five students looked between one another quietly; not quite sure what to say or do, if they should've said or done anything at all.

Finally, it was Kaoru who broke the silence.

"Come on, Hikaru," he started, tugging on his brother's shirt sleeve. "We'd better get to class before it gets any later,"

"We should be doing the same," the raven-haired boy agreed coldly, turning on his heel as his blonde friend shouted in surprise.

"What?! We're just going to head to class just like nothing happened?!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, we are," came the level reply.

"But how can you be like that?!" the blonde continued to make a spectacle; flailing his arms wildly. "Don't you want answers?! I'm still not even sure what happened here!"

"What 'happened here' was you interfered with other people's business, just like you always do,"

"OF COURSE I INTERFERED! THOSE _TWO TWIN HOOLIGANS_ WERE HARASSING A YOUNG LADY! I COULDN'T ALLOW A_ FEEBLE DASMAL_ LIKE HERSELF BE HURT BY THEM!"

"Hey, you know we can still hear you, right?" Hikaru asked flatly.

"Yeah. And who are you calling hooligans?" Kaoru added.

Haruhi could only 'anime sweatdrop'.

"... feeble... damsal...?" her pride shattered at the name.

"That wasn't the reason you interfered. You interfered because you thought they were a love triangle of some sorts," the blonde's friend said plainly.

The blonde, however, ignored Haruhi, the twins, and his friend's statements and pointed at the Hitachiins dramatically.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves!" he scolded them. "To treat a woman, a _gentle flower_, like you did... it's a disgrace! An outrage! Where are your manners?! Why, if I was you parent, I'd send you to bed without dinner!"

...

"For a week!"

...

"_And_ you wouldn't be allowed to even _look_ at the refrigerator!"

...

Silence.

The twins stared at the blonde.

The blonde stared at the twins.

Haruhi sighed at being called a 'gentle flower'.

The blonde and the twins kept staring at one another...

... and the blonde's raven-haired friend grabbed him by the ear and started to drag him away.

"Let's get to class already, you dunce," he muttered as the blonde protested.

"No! Don't take me away! No! I'm not done with those shady twins yet!"-when his friends showed no signs of listening to him, however, he opted to scream at the twins, instead-"This isn't over yet! You hear me?! This isn't over until you say you're sorry and admit that you were wrong! I won't rest until you realize that women are precious and that you should treat them with charm and charisma! You haven't seen the end of me! I will make you admit your shortcomings! I'll hunt you down to the ends of the Earth if I have to, but I won't stop! I...!"

His voice grew softer and softer out until it was nearly inaudible as he was dragged away; leaving both the twins and Haruhi to stare at his fading figure with inscrutable expressions on their faces.

"What a loser," Hikaru said at last.

"He never shuts up, that's for sure," Kaoru agreed.

_"There's a word that describes people like him..."_ Haruhi thought to herself, mentally searching through her vast vocabulary for the perfect one.

Her train of thought was suddenly cut short when she caught sight of the Hitachiins staring at her and bristled slightly.

"What? I'm not going to tell anyone what happened, if that's what you're worried about," she muttered (this time, however, she was completely sincere. It was just too troublesome to recollect).

"Good," Hikaru said roughly. "Then we'll stay out of your way... for now..."

Haruhi sighed.

He was acting nonchalant about it, but Haruhi had a feeling that the only reason neither he nor his twin were still pursuing the argument was because they didn't want the trouble anymore, either.

"Thanks," Haruhi said.

Hikaru shrugged, turning on his heel to leave.

"Whatever," he said flatly. "Let's go, Kaoru,"

Kaoru spared Haruhi a quick glance of... wait... was that _gratitude_?!... before taking off after his brother; leaving Haruhi alone once again.

After a minute or two of just standing in the middle of the walkway, she finally started to head inside; sighing as she did.

Her knee hurt where she'd hit it, but she'd visit the infirmary later; maybe blame the injury on a simple 'fall'.

More than anything, however, her mind was distracted by what'd happened before.

Truthfully, she couldn't exactly assess what had, really.

She could, though, assess the people she'd met.

The twins.

The lolita-boy.

The giant.

The raven-haired boy.

The blonde.

What a mismatched group; so different from one another in so many ways, from appearances to personality.

Yet there was something similar about them all... something about them that they all had in common despite their differences.

Once again, Haruhi couldn't assess what.

All she knew was that she hoped she'd never run into any of them again (the twins would be hard since they were in her class, but she would avoid them the best she could).

She was out to make friends, after all, not bother herself with a bunch of misfits.

Especially those six.

* * *

**Hikaru: 0.0**

**Kaoru: 0.0**

**Chidsengan: ...**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: *go to attack Chidsengan* EXPLAIN YOURSELF, DIMWIT!**

**Chidsengan: TT_TT I'm sorry! It's just you two are so fun to make bullies!**

**Kaoru: Not that!**

**Hikaru: That pathetic excuse for writing! Do you even know what you were trying to go after in this chapter?!**

**Chidsengan: TT_TT ... I... tried my best...**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: Well, it failed.**

**Chidsengan: TT_TT I know. It was the worst writing in the entire world. *slumps* You don't have to spare me my life. I wouldn't blame you if you obliterated me right now...**

**Hikaru: If you insist!**

**Kaoru: Nah. Don't obliterate her. I think it'll be enough punishment for her when no one reviews.**

**Chidsengan: TTUTT You two are so kind to me!**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: -_- ... she totally missed the point...**

**Chidsengan: Anyway, I really am sorry this fanfic is such a total failure thus far (and will more than likely continue to be). So I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who's read this! I can't express my gratitude in words! You reading this means everything to me, so... thank you so much!**

**Hikaru: Ummm... kid?**

**Kaoru: Aren't you famous for having virtual buffets in your fanfics?**

**Chidsengan: ... there're some cookies and milk in the dining room to the left...**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: *skipping away* Yay! Commoner food!**

**Chidsengan: 0.0 ? ... where was I? Oh, yeah! Thank you all so, so, so, so infinitely much for everything! ^_^ I hope to see everyone soon, although, if not, I understand completely... TT_TT I'm an absolute loser...**

**Mori: *suddenly appears from nowhere and hands her a tissue* **

**Chidsengan: 0.0 Huh? Mori? Where'd you come from? You weren't supposed to appear until at least the next A/N... **

**Mori: ... **

**Chidsengan: 0.0**

**Mori: You could really use some improving on your writing... **

**Chidsengan: X.X**

**Mori: *heads off towards virtual dining room***

**Chidsengan: *slumps in dark corner* I can't believe... that even Mori doesn't like me... **


	3. Recherche Soirée

_Note: The first A/N was written by my great friend, azure blue espeon. (she does that for me sometimes. It's really fun ^_^). All credit goes to her. I wrote the ending A/N, though :)_

* * *

**Hikaru: So boss...**

**Karou: ... what's on the agenda today?**

**Tamaki: I'm so glad you asked! Well we're-**

**Kyoya: We're here. As usual. Did you expect anything else?**

**Tamaki: K-Kyoya! W-When did you get here?**

***Pushing up glasses* Kyoya: What are you talking about? I've been here this whole time.**

***Looking nervous* Tamaki: O-Oh! I see.. W-Well, Hikaru, Karou, and I were just about to have an invigorating conversation on what we should do today and then we would go onto how you should properly treat a lovely woman. Then! Later maybe we would go out and get-**

**Hikaru & Karou: Actually. You were the only one there at the time so we had to ask you.**

**Tamaki; HUH?!**

**Karou: Sorry Boss.**

**Hikaru: But its true.**

**Tamaki curls up into a small ball and cried in the corner.**

**Kyoya: Better cheer yourself up, Boss. We do have a guest today, and we wouldn't want you to look bad in front of the ladies.**

**Tamaki: Kyoya! You really do care!**

**Off to the side**

**Hikaru: More like he wouldn't want others to see him like that. It would be *Air Quotes* "Bad for Sales purposes"**

***Nodding head* Karou: Agreed.**

**Hikaru: Anyways, who is it?**

**Karou: Is it that girl again? She kinda depresses me out. All that talk about being worthless. Really makes you contemplate the meaning of life. And birth. And.. stuff.**

**Kyoya: No. I'm afraid not. Our friend was detained. By our guest who also had to be detained herself.**

**Hikaru: What? Detained?**

**Kyoya: Yes. Detained. She got a little.. Rough beforehand.**

**?: Hey! Let me go! Get your hands off me!**

**Kyoya: And here she is now.**

**Two strong tall bodyguards came in holding a struggling girl.**

**Bodyguard #1: Here you are Kyoya-san. As you requested.**

***Raising an eyebrow* Kyoya: I see that. And where is the third one? I believe there were three of you sent.**

***Red faced* Bodyguard #3: W-Well she put up quite a fight and Bodyguard #2 was.. injured upon detainment.**

**Kyoya looked at them and they nervously straightened up.**

**Kyoya: Leave her. I'll deal with her.**

**The guards dropped her and hurriedly got out of the room. The girl meanwhile defiantly looked back at Kyoya.**

**Karou: Wow look at that. She's still standing.**

**Hikaru: Even after the "Shadow King: Death stare #6" Patent pending.**

**Tamaki: Who are you my lovely lady? *Getting on one knee and kissing her hand* We ask that you please grace us with a name to match the beautiful face that is before us.**

***Yanking her hand away* ?: Abe. You can call me. Abe.**

**Hikaru: Like the president?**

**Kaoru: Abe? Isn't that a boy name?**

***Pushing up his glasses and fake coughing* Kyoya: Name-XXX XXXX. Age- XX. Gender- Female. Blood type- AB. Currently single and her hobbies include reading, video games, and petting her cats when they don't run away from her. Goes by Azure Blue Espeon on many sites but prefers Abe and has a dislike for those who call her Abelle.**

**Abe: H-Hey! You can't go saying stuff like that on the internet! T-Thats some private stuff there! Now some stalker is gonna come after me.**

**Kyoya: Rest assured. None of the sensitive aforementioned information is leaving this room. It won't even show up on the text.**

**Abe: ..You can do that?**

**Kyoya: I can do many things.**

**Abe: Well thats a little creepy..**

***Coming up to her* Kaoru: Hey, you never said why you're here.**

***Coming up on the other side* Hikaru: Yeah. Rather suspicious I might add.**

**Abe: I-I'm just visiting! I came to see Chidsengan, but then she kept going on about depressing stuff and putting herself down, so I had to stop her.**

**Kyoya: You had her tied, bound, and gagged in a pile of pillows and bean bags.**

***Blushing* Abe: She wouldn't listen! What else was I supposed to do?!**

**The others sweat dropped.**

**Tamaki: Well now what are we going to do?! We're stuck here and now the conversations just going to be awkward! Nobody's going to know what to say and then everyones gonna stare at each other uncomfortably as crickets chirp in the background and and-!**

**Everyone stared at Tamaki blankly.**

**Abe: There's no need for that. Before I was rudely captured *Snicker from one of the twins* I managed to swipe some of her notes. *Coughes before reading it in a fake Chidsengan voice***

_From Chidsengan's rough drafts notes:_

_Chidsengan: Welcome to the second chappie of 'Our World of Beauty'. As always, I don't own OHSHC __(although I kind of own class 1-A's sensei, Ichitoshi [the name 'Ichitoshi' translates to 'one year', sort of like how he's the sensei of a first year class_). But onto better things... thank you to all who've read and reviewed this fanfic thus far! It means the world to me and everything in the world! You're all the best, and I can't thank you enough! So before I start crying hysterical tears of joy, thank you so much to:

_OfTheAsianPersausion_

_azure blue espeon_

_Fleeting Butterfly_

_DragonSiren7_

_FrogCatcher2000_

_Blu3P34r1_

_And a big fanfic family welcome to Shiranai Atsune, naisymoon, koryandrs, Guest (Lovemehateme2014 on Wattpad), and cant say that! ^_^ I promise you I'll keep writing this fanfic for all I'm worth... although, considering all I'm worth is pathetic when it comes to writing... *sighs*_

_On another note, just a few more announcements about the chappie before I go. One: This chappie's title translates to: 'Seeking Soirée'. And as far as translations go, __Ayanokoji's last name means 'scheme' in Japanese (__just in case the name Ayanokoji doesn't ring a bell, she's that pain-in-the-neck from the first episode/chapter one of Ouran who was nasty to Haruhi). _

_Well, that pretty much wraps it up! Please enjoy and thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! ^_^_

**Abe: And that's it. *Gets ready to leave***

**Hikaru: What's the rush?**

**Kaoru: Yeah. Why are you suddenly trying to get out of here?**

**Abe: N-No reason. *Stomach growls***

**Kyoya: It seems like our guest is hungry.**

**Tamaki: Fear not fair maiden! We, as the esteemed members of the host club, cannot stand by and watch as a lady such as yourself goes hungry.**

**Abe: Its fine. Really. I'll just go.. Make a bowl of cereal or something..**

**Kyoya: Nonsense. Our president has offered you food, and you're going to refuse it.**

**Some curtains pulled back and a large table with rich and fancy foods was shown. The wonderful aromas making Abe's stomach growled again.**

**Abe: ...Fine. I'll do it.**

**A waiter came by with a weird plate of food that she had never seen before.**

**Abe: Is it too late to back out now?**

**Hikaru & Kaoru: Yep! *Dragging her off***

**Kyoya: Well this certainly will be interesting.**

* * *

_Second Note: A Soirée is basically just a big party or event. Lots of dancing, lots of manners, lots of etiquette. That's all, nothing super-important ^_^_

* * *

For the rest of the day, things were relatively calm for Haruhi. Her classes had been normal and suprisingly easy to comprehend (if not somewhat monotonous), her free time had been peaceful (despite Umehito Nekozawa, president of the Wannabe Magician's club, chasing her down in hopes of recruiting her; nothing she hadn't been able to deal with), and lunch had been uneventful (sitting at a table alone, like always... couldn't say there was anything new to report there).

All in all, October 1st had proved to be a rather boring school day on every level, the only exception being what had happened earlier outside the academy.

In all honesty, Haruhi couldn't say she was pleased that the rest of her day had been so dull.

With nothing to earn her attention, nothing to challenge her, nothing to _distract_ her, she found her mind constantly prevaded by thoughts of what'd taken place in front of Ouran that morning.

More specifically than what had taken place, though, the people it'd taken place with; the six boys.

The twins.

Lolita-boy.

Giant.

Glasses-boy.

That Stupid Blonde.

Despite her best efforts, Haruhi just couldn't seem to stop thinking about them.

It was as if they'd somehow broken into her thoughts and had taken them captive; every little thing Haruhi heard or saw reminded her of at least one of them, if not all of them, in some way. As a matter of fact, it was really starting to get on her nerves.

Even now, as she sat in her last class of the day, everything from the murmurs of her fellow students to the gentle 'scritch-scratch' of Ichitoshi Sensei's (class 1-A's teacher's) chalk scribbling on the chalkboard, seemed to be forgotten for Haruhi's [unwanted] curiosity of the boys she'd met.

As mentioned before, she didn't have any friends at Ouran, nor did she communicate with her fellow students that much. The rare socializing she did was mostly with girls, with the exception of Ritsu Kasanoda... and occassionally Nekozawa (although he more or less just desperately needed more members for his failing club. He'd even asked the _lunchlady_ to join, so Haruhi didn't really count his talking to her as all that special).

Yet in that one morning alone, Haruhi had done more socializing than she had in her whole month at Ouran Academy... and now she couldn't get her mind off the boys that she'd met.

In a last-ditch effort to distract herself, Haruhi pulled out a book from her bookbag that she'd borrowed from one of Ouran's four libraries and started to read, deciding she had better things to do than think about the bunch of misfits.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as she'd started reading, her train of thoughts went off the rails again at seeing the characters in the novel.

Two mischevous merchants.

A cute, talking bunny.

A big yet gentle hunter.

A crafty peasant.

... and a harebrained Fairy King...

Haruhi glared daggers at the book as her mind made the comparisons between the characters in the book and the characters she'd met that morning.

Did the world detest her so much that even library books were against her?!

With a frustrated sigh, she leaned back in her chair and watched as Ichitoshi Sensei continued to write down the lessons of the day, although her mind was hardly focused on what he was writing and doing.

Why _couldn't_ she get her mind off the boys she'd met?, she wondered.

Did her lack of friends effect her so much that it was causing her to think of a bunch of guys who hadn't even been nice to her?

She could've argued that it was because they were all pretty cute that her mind kept wandering off towards the thought of them, only Haruhi had never been the type of girl who'd focused or cared about how handsome a guy was.

It could've been that she was just plain curious because she wanted to get to know them a little more, but, once again, she knew that wasn't the reason. Not only was she not curious, she didn't even want to see any of them ever again.

So then what could it have been that was making her think of them so much?

Was it the fact that they were such a motley crue that intrigued her? That they'd all been so different from one another?

Probably; it was more plausible than the first two options.

However, more than anything, Haruhi figured it was probably that the boys were all a mystery to her. She'd always enjoyed mysteries, even as a child, and didn't like to feel in the dark about anything. If there was a mystery to solve, Haruhi would be determined to solve it, that's just the way she was.

And from what she'd seen that morning, the boys she'd met were certainly mysteries.

Out of all of them, the lolita-boy had probably made about the best impression on her and he seemed about the friendliest (the blonde boy didn't count; he was clearly a dimwit... and dimwits tended to be obliviously cheerful). Still, there were so many things Haruhi couldn't help but wonder about, like why he was so small for a high-school student and why he'd been carrying a stuffed animal around with him. Better yet, why had he been so quick to defend Haruhi from the twins, jumping in out of the blue without even knowing what had been going on, yet as soon as that 'Takashi' guy had come along, he'd immediately backed out of the whole dilemma?

That was another thing. 'Takashi', the giant. That guy was about as scary as they came, in Haruhi's eyes. Even her semi-friend (moreso admirer) from class 1-D, Ritsu Kasanoda, was less scary... and people considered him the scariest person in Ouran Academy. True, Kasanoda had a scary face and his dad was the head of an infamous yakuza group, but as far as Haruhi was concerned, that 'Takashi' guy had him more than beat in terms of scariness. Yet for someone so intimidating, 'Takashi' hadn't seemed like a violent person. In fact, it'd almost seemed like he'd been trying to avoid fighting, if anything; keeping his answers to a minimum and actions all but null.

After 'Takashi', Haruhi's mind wandered to the pair of second years; the raven-haired boy and his blonde friend.

The raven-haired boy was just impossible to figure out. He seemed smart, and was probably about the most calm and collected out of the group ('Takashi' was more strong and silent than calm and collected), but that was all Haruhi could really make out, not counting the fact that there'd been something about the boy that had made her want to race away as far as she could from him. By the same token, though, he didn't neccessarily seem like a bad person. He had, after all, been the first to defend Haruhi (even before the blonde; though, in the blonde's defense, he hadn't noticed what was going on immediately). Yet even still, it was almost like there'd been a barrier of ice between him and everyone else; a barrier he didn't want them to breach.

Then there was his friend, the blonde.

Really, Haruhi wasn't sure what that guy's deal was, either, but in a completely different way from the raven-haired boy.

The blonde seemed to be about the most whimsical out of them... not to mention the most emotional (and the most harebrained). He also seemed painfully oblivious, from how he'd thought the twins and Haruhi had been a love triangle to how he'd flagrantly degraded Haruhi's pride in front of her (via the nicknames 'gentle flower' and 'feeble damsal'). It was obvious that he wore his heart on his sleeve and didn't care what anyone really thought of him; just like a little kid. Yet the expression Haruhi had seen in his violet eyes when he'd found out the twins had been bothering her... the feelings behind them... was anything than that of a little kid's. Those eyes spoke of something far beyond that... something far more painful...

With the blonde out of the way, that only left the twins for Haruhi to muse about.

The twins were a little different. First of all, they had a reputation that dashed pretty much every hope of good publicity for them. Secondly, Haruhi was still angry at them for what they'd done, unlike the rest of the boys who'd only gotten swept up in the ordeal (the _twin-made_ ordeal). With that being said, her thoughts were bound to be somewhat biased against them. However, she tried her best to be non-partisan as she thought.

Both twins acted exactly alike, so it wasn't like Haruhi had to assess them seperately or anything like that. Both were spiteful, sarcastic, and had a lot to learn about being nice to others. They walked around with their heads held high in spite of it all, though, and what was worse, they were completely arrogant about it. Yet when Haruhi had insulted them, it had become all-too clear how fragile their confidence was; a small attack to their pride and they'd lashed out. Not so surprising at first glance, perhaps; after all, most boys had tremendous egos. But being so easily jarred by something said by someone they barely knew? It was just proof that, no matter how they acted, the twins were much more insecure than they let on.

Speaking of which...

Haruhi glanced up and looked around the classroom; brown eyes narrowing in slight concern after she had.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen the twins since that morning. In fact, there'd been no sign of the Hitachiin brothers at all... by anyone.

As the hours had worn on and class by class had passed by, Hikaru and Kaoru's desks had remained unoccupied and their presence unfound.

Chatter of their absence in class 1-A had started early on (because, for all their rebellion, the Hitachiin brothers were seldom tardy). When neither Hikaru nor Kaoru had show by end of the day, however, the slight chatter turned into full-length conversations about the twins and their whereabouts; conversations that Ichitoshi Sensei either didn't notice or pretended not to hear as he wrote the final announcements for his students on the chalkboard, not even bothering to calm his class down.

Haruhi remained silent and tried to block out the class' ramblings about the Hitachiin brothers, hardly in the mood to hear anything about the twins after what happened between her and them that morning... but it soon became impossible to, and Haruhi couldn't help but hear bits and pieces of the varied conversations.

"Where do you think Hikaru and Kaoru are today?"

"I don't know,"

"Maybe they didn't come to school at all,"

"No, I bet they got in some sort of trouble and got detention,"

"_Before _they even came to class?"

"Yeah, I don't even think the Hitachiins are capable of _that_,"

"You know as well as the rest of us that those two have always been trouble, though,"

"True, but that doesn't mean that's the reason why they weren't here all day,"

"Maybe they just decided to skip school?"

"Skip school?!"

"What a shameful thought!"

"Is that even legal?"

"I think commoners call it _'playing hockey'_,"

"That's ridiculous. Why on Earth would they call it 'playing _hockey_'? Hockey's a sport!"

"Perhaps commoners have a different definition of hockey,"

"I believe the correct termonology is 'playing hooky', not 'playing hockey',"

"Yes! You're right! That's what it was!"

"What does any of this have to do with Hikaru and Kaoru?"

"Ah, who cares about those two, anyway? Those guys tried to steal my lunch on the first day!"

"They called me pathetic,"

"Well, if you ask me, I think they're kind of cute..."

"Yeah, in a rugged, rebel sort of way,"

"H-hey! Don't you two have boyfriends?!"

"Oh, right. Sorry..."

"Anyway, do you think they're alright?"

"I hope so,"

"Really? But they're so mean!"

"Well, they _are_ our classmates,"

"And if they're attending Ouran Academy they must be from wealthy families,"

"You're right. My parents would be furious at me if I didn't at least try to be nice to them,"

"It _would_ probably be in our best interest to befriend them,"

"But they're so hard to get close to,"

"Yeah. It's almost like they don't care about anyone else but themselves,"

"Who'd want to be friends with people like them?"

"That doesn't mean we can't worry about them, though, does it?"

"I still don't see what the big deal is,"

Haruhi lowered her head and looked back down in the book she was reading as the class continued to talk about the twins.

Even though she didn't like them (nor was she in a very pleasant mood towards them), for them to just dissapear without a trace was... odd, to say the least.

Had they gotten in trouble after all for what they'd done? There had been four other witnesses to how they'd treated her, after all. But who would've told on them?

Haruhi sighed, her eyes skimming over the paragraphs in her book.

As much as she liked mysteries, this was one time where even she was at a loss...

"HARUHI! HEY! HARUHI!" a loud, familiar voice suddenly cut through the air.

Haruhi's heart skipped a few beats and she practically jumped out of her seat; her book nearly flying out out of her hands as she was instantly jolted out of her thoughts by the sudden exclamation.

"HEY, HARUHI! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"

Haruhi froze in recognition of the voice.

_"Oh, no,"_ she thought to hearself in horror. _"Anyone but-"_

Her thought ended there, because as she looked up to see who had shouted at her, whatever suspicions she might've had about the shouting culprit were confirmed.

Glancing up, she found herself only centimeters away from the girl who sat in front of her in class; a girl with long, cinnamon-hued hair tied back with a pink bow and brown eyes who was leaning on Haruhi's desk in a way that Haruhi was sure could've been classified as a complete violation of personal space.

Haruhi sighed slightly, trying her best to regain her composure after the abrupt shock to her system as the girl leaned in even more closely.

Why?

Why, today of all days,_ she_ had chosen to talk to her?

"_Oh, Haruhi,_" the girl with the ribbon in her hair pestered. "Did you hear me?"

Haruhi couldn't help but groan a tad, in no mood to deal with the hyperactive girl in front of her.

"Yeah... along with the rest of Ouran Academy," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Haruhi? I didn't quite hear you!"

Sensing there was no real way to get around the girl, Haruhi sighed once again before finally acknowledging the girl's presence.

"Good morning, Renge," she greeted flatly.

The girl in front of her, Renge's, eyes immediately lit up like Christmas Lights and she clapped her hands giddily.

"Oh, good! So you did hear me!" she said excitedly. "I didn't know if you had... or if you were avoiding me! You know, I have my suspiscions some students here have been attempt to do that lately..."

Haruhi didn't even try to make light of the statement.

"Really? Gee, I wonder why anyone would want to avoid _you_, Renge," she mumbled sarcastically.

"I know, right?!" Renge said, not taking not of the sarcasm in Haruhi's voice. "I've got so much to offer!"-Renge's demeanor suddenly switched in an instant and she clenched her fists furiously, her hair seeming to take on the shapes of snakes-"One day I'll show them! I'll show them all! Then they'll be sorry they ever ran away from Renge Houshakuji!"

Haruhi could only stare at the girl in exasperation; an 'anime sweatdrop' finding its way to her for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

As odd as she may've been acting, however, Haruhi had to remind herself that Renge was just naturally an emotional person, if not a little... unstable. In fact, the way she was acting that very moment was normal when compared to some of her other mood swings (for lack of a better word).

Truth be told, Renge was really a kind person. She enjoyed helping others out and doing things for them, even if most of her efforts were forced upon them by her and/or overwhelmed them.

A self-proclaimed otaku who always carried a spare cosplay costume in her bookbag, Renge's only real problem (aside from being an anime/manga/videogame fanatic) was that she had very limited control over her emotions and let them get the better of her no matter what the circumstances. That, and, like so many of the students at Ouran Academy, she'd been spoiled by those surrounding her. The most prominent figure to do so was her dad, Reynard Houshakuji, a world-renowned entreprenuer who'd dedicated his life to giving Renge everything she wanted after his wife (Renge's mom) had dissapeared when the girl was only three.

Certainly everyone had understood Reynard's intentions: help take the girl's mind off everything by giving her more and more of what she wanted. It apparently hadn't been a problem at first, until Reynard discovered that his wife hadn't dissapeared at all and had only signed a contract for a worldwide modeling tour (without telling him, yet she blamed him for their lack of communication). After that, Reynard had tried to ween Renge off the overly luxurious lifestyle she'd grown accustomed to... only to find that not only didn't he have the heart to do so, but Renge wouldn't let him. So years passed and Renge grew increasingly more spoiled and more and more like her mom, until finally, Reynard decided it would be best for her to interact with people her own age and sent her to Ouran Academy in her middle school years.

Renge hadn't minded in the slightest. She'd easily taken control of the class she'd been put in in middle school, and had become a ring leader of sorts to the students there, although most students were just plain scared of her. And when Renge had walked through the door of class 1-A on the first day of highschool, those that'd been in middle school with her had all but hidden under their desks in terror.

Haruhi could've almost laughed at the memory, except that now, one month into the schoolyear, it'd became more than clear why the students had reacted the way they did. After only spending a day with the high-strung otaku, Haruhi had been absolutely exhausted from the young Houshakuji's incessant talking, [unintentional] rich girl antics, and random mood swings... and after putting up with it all for a day, Renge had somehow declared Haruhi as her "best friend in the whole world".

Meaning, simply put, that while Renge was a nice girl and all, she just wasn't Haruhi's cup of tea... and Renge was oblivious to it.

"Anyway, Haruhi!" Renge started loudly, staring the Fujioka straight in the eyes like a lawyer would with her client. "Did you know?!"

Haruhi resisted the urge to massage her temples; somehow, Renge had managed to give her a terrible headache.

"Know what, Renge?" Haruhi muttered weakly; along with her headache, her ears were still ringing from her classmate's high-pitched voice.

Renge slammed her fists down on Haruhi's desk.

"Rumor has it that the twins are missing!" the otaku shrieked, before proceeding to grab onto Haruhi's shoulders and shake her. "Don't tell me that you haven't heard about it yet! It's all over the school!"

"No kidding," Haruhi said flatly, yanking herself from the otaku's grip.

Glancing at her book once again with a completely disinterested expression on her face, she tried her best to ignore that Renge was there, but to no avail.

"_Haruhi_," Renge whined. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"Do I _want_ to?" Haruhi's response was one of irritance.

Irritance that, clearly, Renge hadn't picked up on (or had just simply chosen not to acknowledge).

"THE TWINS MUST'VE BEEN SHANGHAI'D!" she exclaimed, slamming her fists on Haruhi's desk once again; this time so hard that the latter actually felt sorry for it. "No! Not just shanghai'd! Shanghai'd by pirates to be used as a bargaining chip to attain their parents' money! Of course! That's what it is! It's just like when the beautiful princess Chikyū was kidnapped by a gang of such scoundrels before being saved by the handsome peasant Ryōkai in _Umi no Densetsu_!"

"Umm, Renge, I'm pretty sure that the twins aren't in that kind of situation," Haruhi mumbled. "And what's all this talk about princesses and peasants? And what the heck is _Umi no Densetsu_, anyway?"

"Only one of the biggest Shojo mangas currently in circulation," Renge sighed, her eyes taking on the shape of stars. "The name literally means 'Legend of the Seas'. Doesn't that just sound so romantic?"

"I'm... still not sure what any of this has to do with the twins,"

"My point is they're in big trouble!" Renge's mood altered in an instant. "Wherever they are, whatever happened, I can assure you that it's something so serious that Kikaru and Haoru won't be able to come to school for quite a while!"

Haruhi 'anime sweatdropped' a tad.

"_Hikaru_ and _Kaoru_," she corrected.

Renge shrugged nonchalantly.

"Whatever. You knew what I meant," she said. "What I'm trying to say is I know I'm right! You should never question the senses of an otaku!"

"I wasn't questioning your senses!" Haruhi laughed nervously (_"just everything else about you",_ she added silently).

Fortunately, Renge seemed pleased with Haruhi's answer and quieted down slightly; opting to talk under her breath about her otaku-minded fantasy of Hikaru and Kaoru's kidnapping by pirates rather than to Haruhi, something the Fujioka heiress was more than happy about.

With a contented sigh, she looked back down at her book and almost finished reading an entire sentence...

... before Renge piped up again.

"You know, now that I think about it," she started as Haruhi cringed.

_"Please no more otaku fairytales,"_ Haruhi silently begged.

Surprisingly, though, Renge didn't lapse into a conversation based on anime, manga, videogames, or flagrant otaku-ism.

In fact, she said something that actually caught Haruhi's attention.

"Where _does_ the twins' wealth come from?"

Haruhi blinked.

"What do you mean, Renge?"

Renge pursed her lips in thought; folding her arms over her chest and furrowing her eyebrows like a businesswoman about to make the most important decision of her life would.

"Think about it, Haruhi," she said seriously. "Almost every student at Ouran Academy is of direct lineage from a prestigious family, and if they're not _directly_ from such a family, they're closely related to them,"

"Yeah, so?" Haruhi asked, not quite sure where Renge was going with the conversation.

Renge sighed impatiently.

"_So_ that means that their families are well-known," she said plainly. "Everybody who's anybody knows who they are and what kind of business they're in,"

Haruhi quirked a curious eyebrow.

"Okay," she agreed. "So you're saying...?"

"_I'm saying_ that I'd never heard of the last name _Hitachiin_ before those two came along," Renge explained, her eyes narrowing in suspiscion.

Haruhi shrugged.

"Maybe their family's new wealth," she supplied. "You know, more up-and-coming than most of the families here at Ouran; not as well-known but just as wealthy,"

"Haruhi, you don't seem to understand!" Renge snapped. "My dad's dealt with nearly every high-name family out there, and not even once did he mention any _Hitachiins_ to me! And not only that, but he's worked with some of the hardest families to even get in touch with... Suzushima, Takaoji, Fujioka... you name it, my dad's met them! So if he can get in touch with such high-class families, then I'm pretty sure he could get in with some new wealth piddly-winks like the _Hitachiins_,"

Haruhi flinched slightly at Renge's mention of the name Fujioka and quickly diverted the topic.

"So... what do you think the Hitachiins are a product of?" she asked quickly. "A political family? Entreprenuers? Maybe actors?"

Haruhi's tactic worked.

In the next second, Renge was deep in thought about what kind of family Hikaru and Kaoru came from rather than talking about high-name families like the Fujiokas (much to Haruhi's relief).

"I don't know," the otaku mused. "Actually, to tell you the truth, I don't think they act very much like part of an esteemed aristocracy at all,"

"What... do you mean by that?"

"Think about it, Haruhi," Renge said sternly. "Every student here at Ouran Academy, no matter what their parents' endeavors are, have had a simliar upbringing: filthy rich and pressed for presentability. Basically, that means that we've been prepped to be our finest since we were born. We've been raised to be polite, understanding, and congenial towards everyone we meet; to never act out of place, even when things don't go our way, and to always make it a point to remind others just how wealthy we are by the way we handle ourselves,"

"Alright..." Haruhi said, bewildered.

She knew where Renge was coming from somewhat; after all, what she was saying was true. Haruhi knew from experience that there was more pressure on the children of the wealthy to behave accordingly at all times than there was with more 'common folk'...

... yet how any of it tied into the twins was still a big question mark.

"What I'm trying to say," Renge started, sensing Haruhi's perplexion. "Is when's the last time those Hitachiin brothers were ever polite, understanding, or congenial towards anyone? When have they not acted out of place? Where have they ever reminded anyone of their wealth through the way they handle themselves?"

"Never," Haruhi answered flatly, recalling what had happened earlier with the twins.

"Exactly!" Renge exclaimed, snapping her fingers in conclusion. "Which makes me believe that their upbringings were probably not nearly as privleged as most of the students at Ouran Academy! No person from wealth would act the way they do! And if they were going to be brats, they'd be snobs, not total menaces!""

Haruhi's eyes widened at Renge's words.

"Wait a minute, Renge," she started. "You don't think that... Hikaru and Kaoru are-"

"Commoners? Who knows?" Renge finished her sentence. "There's one thing I'm sure of, though, and that's that you're the only student Ouran has down as attending by means of a scolarship... and you act like you were bred with more class than they were! And you're a commoner!"

Haruhi cringed at being called a commoner once again, but stayed calm.

"I don't think so," she said coolly. "If the twins, or anyone else here, were scolarship students, I'm sure the faculty would let us know,"

Then again, they had agreed to cover up Haruhi's wealthy status, but somehow, this just seemed different. Haruhi really meant it. She had complete trust in Ouran and their levels of honesty.

"Who can say, Haruhi?" Renge finally sighed, slumping into her chair comfortably. "All I know is if something like that happened..."-her eyes suddenly grew wide with an all-too familiar otaku-esque look-"It would be just like in _San-nen no Kōsha_! Oh, Haruhi! Have I ever told you about that show?! It's about this class of handsome third year students who get transfered to a girl's school on their way to a camping expidition! When they get there, they meet this girl who pretends to be rich so she can fit in with the rich boys, but the cute leader of the guys, Hiromaru, goes ahead and finds out her secret! And then-"

Renge continued to ramble on after that, but Haruhi steadily lost interest and her mind drifted away from Renge's otaku fantasyland and back to the twins.

She doubted that Renge's theory about the twins being of lesser class was acurate, no matter how they acted.

However, the conversation _had_ made Haruhi curious about the twins' pasts...

Where were they from?

Who were their parents?

How was it they could afford to attend Ouran Academy?

What had happened that had made them the callous troublemakers they were?

Haruhi frowned, looking down at her book once more in yet another futile attempt to read it.

The last thing she wanted to do was think of the twins... of any of the boys she'd met that morning.

Yet why did all her thoughts seem to steer towards them?

Just then, the door to the classroom slammed open, demanding everyone's attention, even Ichitoshi Sensei's.

A chorus of gasps sounded through the room as the students took in the two boys who were standing in the doorway... two of the six boys who Haruhi had been wondering about all day.

Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin were covered in paint and caked in what many of the girls were desperately hoping wasn't dirt (it was); looking more discheveled than Haruhi had ever seen anyone look and even more bitter than they usually did.

"Ah, Hikaru, Kaoru," Ichitoshi Sensei said kindly, eying the two of them slightly. "How nice of you to finally join us... although, I'm afraid we're on our final class of the day,"

"That's fine," one of the twins said dryly (which one, Haruhi couldn't tell. The one with the right part... wasn't that Hikaru? No, Kaoru...).

Ichitoshi Sensei's eyebrows knitted slightly.

"Is there... any reason why you two didn't manage to make it till class until now?" he asked gently, giving the twins the benefit of the doubt.

Amber eyes sought out Haruhi with a glare as the twin with the left part (Hikaru?) replied.

"We got in trouble for something that happened this morning," he answered as coolly as possible. "Kaoru and I spent all day whitewashing some dingy old fence where the academy horse track is,"

"Not that we mind," the twin who Haruhi was now sure was Kaoru, said. "It was better than having to spend all day in a stupid classroom, anyway,"

Ichitoshi Sensei sighed a tad, but kept his gentle smile.

"I see," he murmured tiredly. "Well, in any event, it's good to have you back. Please take your seats,"

Hikaru and Kaoru didn't respond.

They only made their way to their desks, eyes narrowed on Haruhi the whole while as the class began to buzz about the them once again.

"See, I told you they got in trouble,"

"I suppose you were right, after all,"

"I can't believe it, though. I didn't think it was possible to before even coming to the classroom,"

"I'm just glad they weren't playing hockey,"

"_Hooky_,"

"I wonder what they could've done to earn a punishment like white-washing,"

"Especially the old fence at the horse track,"

"I don't know, but it must've been something that angered the chairman,"

"Their parents must be ashamed of them!"

"I'm ashamed to call them my classmates!"

"Is it still wrong that I think they're kind of cute?"

"Why Ichitoshi Sensei treats them so nicely is beyond me,"

Haruhi found herself lowering her head as the twins took their seats on either side of her; shrinking back slightly as they continued to glower at her for all they were worth.

They'd said they'd gotten in trouble for what'd happened that morning, and it was obvious they thought it was because of her; that Haruhi had tattletaled on them after all.

She knew for a fact she hadn't, though, which left her guessing who had.

It had to have been one of the other boys she'd met that morning, and judging from the way lolita-boy had backed out of the fight before and how that giant, 'Takashi', hadn't exactly seemed like the type that talked too much (or tattletaled), that left the blonde doofus and his raven-haired friend.

The blonde was a safe bet; from what Haruhi had seen before, it was impossible for the boy to be quiet for five seconds.

Then again, the blonde seemed like he would be more of the type to settle things with the Hitachiins one-on-one rather than complain to the chairman about the events.

So that left...

The walking block of ice that was the blonde's friend.

Haruhi could almost picture that more, considering the raven-haired boy seemed like the studious type who would get someone else in trouble just for the sake of looking like an ideal student (that would be something more along the lines of malicious than studious though, wouldn't it?).

Either way, however, Haruhi wasn't in a good situation... wedged in-between two, angry Hitachiins who looked like they'd clobber her the first chance they'd get.

The atmosphere was so tense that, for once, she didn't even mind Renge speaking up out of the blue and distracting the twins.

"So why are you two here, anyway?" the otaku asked the Hitachiin brothers as Ichitoshi Sensei read through the final announcements of the day. "You two are supposed to be kidnapped by pirates!"

Both Hikaru and Kaoru's glares faded into expressions of utter confusion.

"Huh?" Hikaru queried.

"Yeah, just what exactly are you talking about?" Kaoru added.

Renge laughed sheepishly and waved her hand dissmissively at them.

"Oh, no, never mind!" she chuckled. "I just thought it was pretty sudden the way you walked into class and all after missing for almost a whole day. Kind of makes people think you were shanghai'd or something like that. No big deal. Although..."-once again, Renge's mood switched drastically as she looked between both boys skeptically-"You both must've done something huge to get in so much trouble that the chairman would order you to whitewash something instead of just your typical detention. So, what was it?"

The twins shared a slight glance before narrowing their eyes on Haruhi, who only slumped all the further into her seat.

"Actually," she started nervously. "I think it's better if we just forget about the topic for today, Renge. I mean, I'm sure the Hitachiins have already been reminded enough of what they did, and-"

Before Haruhi could get any further, however, Ichitoshi Sensei's voice rang through the classroom and promted everyone's attention to be directed at him.

"Ah! Princess Ayonokoji! You're here!" he exclaimed, looking kindly at a young woman as she stepped into class 1-A.

All eyes immediately switched from being on Ichitoshi Sensei to the girl.

The girl was dressed in an Ouran Academy highschool uniform and was maybe about a year or two older than the first-year students. She was relatively tall with auburn hair and dark eyes that were a contrast to her fair skin. There was no doubt she was beautiful, however, there was just something about her that seemed condemning about her; a certain scrutinizing air that was almost as bad as the twins'.

Haruhi quirked an eyebrow at the girl as a sudden feeling of recognition nagged at her.

It felt as if she'd seen this girl somewhere before; a vague memory of sorts... at one of her dad's parties or expos, maybe?

Ichitoshi Sensei turned to the class and gestured towards the redhead as she took her place next to him; silently observing everyone with her scrutinizing gaze.

"I'd like to introduce you all to Ayanokoji Sukimu," Ichitoshi Sensei started. "She's a third year student here in class 3-A. She'll be a regular her in class 1-A with us for a little while,"

Ayanokoji gave a graceful curtsy, as was customary.

"How do you do?" she greeted, her voice level, yet cold as ice.

Ah, Ayanokoji Sukimu. Now Haruhi remembered where she'd seen the girl before.

A chorus of excited whispers immediately sounded through the classroom; most of them about how "pretty" Ayanokoji was, others about how much of a "privilege" it was to have someone from the prestigious Sukimu Group visiting their classroom.

The Sukimu Group was, after all, related to royalty and was one of the most esteemed families in Japan as a result. Even in Ouran, an academy teeming with the elite, those with the last name Sukimu were regarded in high precedence.

As for Ayanokoji, Haruhi had met the girl a few times before at some of her dad's parties, although it'd been about ten years since they'd last crossed paths... not to mention those times that they'd seen eachother, Haruhi had been going through an awkward stage (loose teeth and glasses). Haruhi had never been fond of Ayanokoji. Even as a child, the Sukimu heiress had been privy to the habit of acting like a complete snob, and the time she'd spent at Ryoji Fujioka's parties had mostly consisted of bragging to everyone about how she was the only child born to inherit the Sukimu name in her generation, not to mention looking down on everyone she deemed unworthy (Haruhi could recall that one time she'd even yelled at a butler for the way his suit was tailored). She'd been so unpleasant that it's actually led Ryoji to cut off all contact he had with the Sukimus, though how a kid who'd only been seven at the time could've been the root of such a drastic action confused Haruhi to this day.

On the other hand, however, Haruhi had been completely unaware that Ayanokoji was attending Ouran Academy. In fact, the last she'd checked, all the daughters of her dad's wealthy friends (or former associates) had opted to attend the Lobelia Girl's Academy; an academy of equal eliteness, though not nearly as refined as Ouran.

With no one at Ouran to recognize her from her dad's social affairs, it'd been relatively easy for Haruhi to keep her identity as a Fujioka under wraps... however, with Ayanokoji attending the same academy...

Fortunately, the young Sukimu heiress didn't seem to recognize her at all; in fact, she didn't even seem to notice Haruhi was in the room at all.

Breathing a sigh of slight relief and silently cheering her five-year-old's self irrecognizable awkward phase, Haruhi was about to turn her attention back to Ichitoshi Sensei when a sudden voice made her jump.

"Ichitoshi Sensei," the Hitachiin sitting to the left of her called, not bothering to raise his hand like most [polite] students would. "I've got a question,"

Ichitoshi Sensei sighed, obviously not in the mood to deal with either of the Hitachiin brothers (judging by the expressions on their faces, neither was the rest of the class)... but smiled nonetheless.

"Yes, Kaoru?" their teacher said a patiently as he could.

His response was met with an angry glower as the Hitachiin that had spoken folded his arms over his chest.

"I'm _Hikaru_," he corrected tersely.

Ichitoshi Sensei overlooked the furious expression on his student's face and continued.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, although he sounded more exasperated than apologetic. "Now then, _Hikaru_,"-he emphasized the name greatly before continuing-"What is it that you'd like to know?"

The twin everyone could now identify as Hikaru pointed to Ayanokoji.

"You said this girl was a _third year student_..." Hikaru started; Ayanokoji visibly bristling in offense at being referred to so simply as 'this girl'.

Ichitoshi Sensei nodded.

"That's correct," he agreed.

Hikaru shared a glance with Kaoru, who immediately seemed to read his brother's thoughts, before they both turned to Ichitoshi Sensei in perfect unison.

"If she's a student from class_ 3-A_..." Hikaru started.

"... then why is she here in class _1-A_?" Kaoru finished his brother's sentence with perfect timing.

Haruhi eyes widened slightly at the statement.

She'd been so distracted about Ayanokoji recognizing her that she hadn't even realized how odd it was that a _third year student_ was visiting a _first year class_.

"Not to agree with the Hitachiins," Haruhi began flatly, ignoring the boys' eyes boring into her as she spoke. "But first, second, and third years all have their seperate classes and time schedules. So shouldn't Miss Ayanokoji should be in the middle of her free period now?"

Haruhi couldn't help but feel a tinge of relief when Ayanokoji still showed no signs of recognizing her while Ichitoshi Sensei cleared his throat slightly.

"I was just getting to that," he said, his voice making it apparent that he was answering a question of one of a student he actually liked (a.k.a. not a Hitachiin). "You see, it has to do with this time of year,"

Haruhi cocked her head towards her right shoulder slightly.

"This time of year?" she repeated. "But, Ichitoshi Sensei... what's so special about it? I mean, I know it's October, but that's not really so much of a deal, is it?"

Ichitoshi Sensei opened his mouth to say something, when he was abruptly interrupted by a shocked shriek.

Before Haruhi could even comprehend what was going on, she found herself only centimeters away from the face of Renge Houshakuji, who was leaning on the Fujioka's desk with her palms in what could've been called an extreme invasion of personal space.

"You mean you didn't know?!" Renge trilled, her voice so high-pitched that it caused every student in the class to jump slightly.

"Didn't know... what?" Haruhi asked, a perplexed expression on her face.

Renge laughed hyperactively, her brown eyes glistening with a combination of excitement and... something that greatly resembled insanity.

"About the Ouran Academy Soirée, of course!" she exclaimed in a know-it-all tone of voice; pumping her right fist in the air with enthusiasm.

"The Ouran Academy Soirée?" Haruhi was surprised to hear the voices of the Hitachiin twins echoing her own.

The person seated behind Haruhi, a brunette, brown-eyed girl named Momoka Kurokano (the daughter of two diplomats), was the next to join in the conversation with an excited squeal.

"Yeah!" she added enthusiastically with a wide smile. "It's one of the biggest events of the schoolyear!"

"Nay! Not _one of the biggest_ events, Momoka!" Renge cut in. "The annual Ouran Academy Soirée is _the biggest_ event of the schoolyear!"-she sighed dreamily and stared off into the distance, though what she was looking at exactly was something Haruhi wasn't quite sure of-"The annual Ouran Academy Soirée... a timeless event that the school has been holding since the time it was built! An event that many say was first established as proof of Ouran's founder's affections for his beloved; an elegant ball held by him that would prove his love for her!"

"Sounds kind of sappy, if you ask me," Hikaru muttered.

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed in the same, flat tone of voice.

Renge's eyes flashed in fury as she turned on them with the rage of 1,000 army men.

"YOU SAVAGES HAVE NO APPRECIATION FOR THE BEAUTY OF LOVE!" she screamed at the twins furiously.

Her rage was gone as soon as it'd come, however, as she lapsed into her little dreamworld once again with sparkling eyes; so much so that Haruhi could almost see hearts and roses appearing around her.

"Anyway, our founder's proof of affection for his dear one was hardly wasted," she went on, clasping her hands together like a girl in love herself. "They married shortly thereafter and watched over Ouran Academy together, and after they handed over control of the school to their successor, it was decided that every schoolyear, Ouran Academy would host the most beautiful, the most elegant, the most wonderful extraveganza in the history of elite academies... a tradition that would come to be known worldwide as the legendary annual Ouran Academy Soirée! Such a spectacle, such an amazing event... I could eat three bowls of rice just thinking about it!"

Haruhi blinked blankly as Renge finished the tale with a dramatic pose, her mind less on the legacy of the Ouran Academy Soirée than it was on what she had ever done to deserve such odd and nerve-wracking classmates... and Renge. Yeah, Renge was definitely in a league of her own.

"So what?" Hikaru asked, his voice cold with boredom. "That still doesn't explain why Ayanokoji, a third year, is here in the first year class,"

"It all has to do with the annual Ouran Academy Soirée!" Ichitoshi Sensei happily blurted out; determined not to let Renge steal his limelight once again. "You see, each year, just before the soirée rolls around, all classes are canceled to focus on preperations for the event. Which year class someone's in become irrelevant, as we all work together in order to make the soiree a success. First years can work with third years. Second years become more than mentors to middle schoolers. Teachers and students are friends, and even elementary students are involved in the prelude to the most prestigious event in the world!"-his sanity all but abandoned him as his eyes seemed to double in size and sparkle with childlike longing and enthusiasm-"The annual Ouran Academy Soirée is a time of year where everyone is a friend and the world is the way it should be! A true tribute to the founder and his beloved; an universe of prestige and wonder they'd be happy to see! It's so wonderful it almost makes me cry!"

"Don't fight it, sensei!" Renge exclaimed, comical tears streaming down her own face.

"Can it, otaku," both Hikaru and Kaoru muttered simultaneously.

Shooting them a slight glare, Renge then turned back to Haruhi.

"Anyway, it's huge!" Renge exclaimed. "I can't believe you've never heard of it, Haruhi!"

"Well, I am new here," Haruhi muttered.

"That's no excuse!"

"I just didn't think Ouran would host something as outlandish as a soirée," Haruhi said flatly (although, after thinking it over a bit more, it made complete sense. Everything Ouran Academy did was outlandish).

Renge calmed down slightly and shook her head with a small 'tsk' of sympathy.

"Poor Haruhi," she sighed. "It must be so hard for you... being the only commoner at this school... unaware of our traditions and events. You must feel so alone,"

"Yes," Momoka agreed, her eyes filled with tears. "To not even know what the Ouran Soirée was... our hearts go out to you,"

"Hey, the twins didn't know what Ouran hosted a soirée every year, either!"

"Don't bring us into this," the twins said simultaneously, prompting a short glower from Haruhi.

Her anger was turned into exasperation, however, as the girls in the class continued to bemoan 'poor, commoner Haruhi's ignorance'; prompting their subject of pity to 'anime sweatdropped' a tad before looking back at the Ouran Soirée details Ichitoshi Sensei was now writing on the board, although her mind was hardly focused on it.

It was only times like those, when the other students viewed her as a 'pitiable commoner' that she wished she hadn't agreed to her dad's deal; times when she wished that she could tell everyone she was a Fujioka in order to not be looked down on (although, that was what the deal was all about, wasn't it? Becoming friends with people who didn't look down on her regardless of what her last name was).

All else aside, however, Haruhi was genuinely astonished that she'd never heard of the annual Ouran Academy Soirée, especially given that she'd thought she'd heard everything there was to hear about Ouran from her parents. Being that the soiree was such a big deal, she was sure her parents would've told her about it. In fact, she was more than sure that her dad would've raved about it. Yet this was the first time she'd ever heard anything about the soiree, meaning that either her parents hadn't wanted to tell her about it (for some reason).

But why?

"In any event," Ichitoshi's voice sounded through the classroom, snapping Haruhi out of her thoughts again. "As preparation for the Ouran Academy Soirée, all classes will be on a hiatus until after the event. In addition, classes of the same rank and different years will be assigned to work with one another. Meaning our class, class 1-A, is going to be working in unsion with classes 2-A and Princess Ayanokoji's class, class 3-A. Are there any other questions?"

Haruhi went to say something, but the rest of the class chiming "no, Ichitoshi Sensei!" overruled her, leaving their sensei to nod.

"Very well," he said, then turned to Ayanokoji. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"No," Ayanokoji said coolly. "I only came here today to represent my class. Though, I would appreciate it if wse could talk after class,"

"Of course," Ichitoshi Sensei smiled warmly before nodding to his students just as the final bell rang. "Alright, then, that's the bell! Have a wonderful day, everyone! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Thank you, Ichitoshi Sensei!" the class chorused cheerfully.

Their teacher gave one last smile before the students scurried to gather their bookbags and homework assignments; chattering excitedly with one another about the Ouran Soirée.

Haruhi, on the other hand, made a beeline for the classroom door despite Renge's protests for her to stay and chat.

Between the twins and Ayanokoji, the last thing she wanted to do was stay there any longer than she had to be.

Just before she could leave, however, Ichitoshi Sensei stopped her.

"Oh, Haruhi," he started kindly.

Great...

"Yes, Ichitoshi Sensei?" Haruhi responded as calmly as she could.

Ichitoshi Sensei rummaged through his desk a moment, looking for something, before finding whatever it was and handing it to Haruhi.

"I know you're new to Ouran Academy," he said gently. "So maybe these can help. They're papers on what the Ouran Academy Soirée is and the proper protocol for it. Anything else you can think of, just ask me, alright?"

Haruhi nodded, mustering a smile for her teacher.

"Thank you very much, Ichitoshi Sensei," she said gratefully.

"Haruhi?"

Haruhi glanced to her left to see Ayanokoji looking at her pensively; twirling a strand of her auburn hair in her fingers thoughtfully.

"Yes," Haruhi answered levelly.

"As in Haruhi _Fujioka_?" Ayanokoji prodded.

...

Uh-oh.

"No, Princess Ayanokoji, I'm afraid yo're mistaken," Ichitoshi Sensei immediately came to Haruhi's defense. "This is Haruhi Hatori. She's a scholarship student here at Ouran,"

"I see," Ayanokoji murmured, studying Haruhi once again with her dark eyes.

After a few moments, the Sukimu heiress finally seemed to be convinced and lowered her head apologetically.

"I'm sorry," she said, though the tone of her voice made it clear that she was anything but. "You looked a little like someone I knew once. I had no idea you were just a _scholarship student_,"

The way Ayanokoji said 'scholarship student', with such disdain, was enough to make both Haruhi and Ichitoshi Sensei cringe, but fortunately, Haruhi's teacher was able to keep his composure and ushered Haruhi gently out the door.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Ichitoshi Sensei laughed lightly. "Though Haruhi's the best student in our class, so that makes her just as good as any heiress,"

Ayanokoji sniffed.

"I'm not so sure about _that_," she spat bitterly.

Ichitoshi Sensei's smile wavered.

"Either way," he said good-naturedly, turning to Haruhi. "Have a nice day, Miss Hatori. Please make sure to review the papers I gave you,"

"Of course, Ichitoshi Sensei," Haruhi nodded. "Have a nice day,"

"You, too, Haruhi,"

"Good day, Miss Ayanokoji,"

"Good day, Haruhi," came the cold reply.

Without giving it a second thought, Haruhi all but raced out of the classroom in breathless jaunts; not stopping until she was as far away as possible from class 1-A, Ayanokoji, and the twins.

What a day it'd been.

And now she had to learn all about this Ouran Soirée, too?

Haruhi sighed, leaning against one of the many walls of the school hallways.

How had the course of her life spiraled out of control in the course of a mere eight hours?

Not that it mattered.

She didn't have time to wonder how it had gotten to be the way it is... what she had to focus on was how to handle things.

Because she was, no matter how she hid it, a Fujioka.

Fujiokas were problem solvers.

Fujiokas didn't worry about some old acquaintance finding out about their real identity.

Fujiokas weren't concerned about two twin terrors who were more than likely after revenge although they'd done nothing wrong.

Fujiokas didn't spend their time thinking about people they'd met earlier that morning who'd piqued their curiosity.

Fujiokas didn't fear simple Soirées because they were worried about working with kids from other classes who might discover their secrets.

Fujiokas could handle anything.

Yes, Haruhi was most definitely a Fujioka.

But sometimes, she wished she really was carefree commoner Haruhi Hatori.

* * *

**Tamaki: 0.0 That... was it?**

**Honey: Kind of a dull ending, right, Takashi?**

**Mori: *nods* Hmm.**

**Haruhi: -_- Hey, Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, we were supposed to stay in the back room until the next A/N... although... *skims the chapter once again* It was pretty... umm... not... that... great.**

**Kyoya: *adjusts glasses* It's obvious Miss Chidsengan's coming into her own as an author, so a little support might be well-deserved at such a pivotol moment in her budding career.**

**Tamaki, Honey, Mori, and Haruhi: ... is that Shadow King talk for 'the chapter was pathetic'?**

**Kyoya: Not at all. I'm just here to encourage her as a friend. *mutters* Because she's a friend with benefits...**

**Everyone else: What?**

**Kyoya: Nothing...**

**Chidsengan: Alright, I know, this chappie was terribly-written and I'm a loser. But I've got more important things to worry about... like what happened to my friend after Hikaru and Kaoru took her away?**

**Honey: Abe-chan took a limo back home. She says 'hi'. ^_^**

**Chidsengan: ^_^ Oh, good, at least she's alright. Now, where was I...? Right... *cries hysterically* I'm so sorry I'm such a pathetic author! You all deserve better than this! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! TT_TT **

**Tamaki: *hands her a rose* Don't cry, my princess. Everything will be alright. Except, maybe your writing...**

**Chidsengan: TT_TT**

**Haruhi: -_- Not helping, senpai...**

**Kyoya: Miss Chidsengan, might I remind you that you still have to thank everyone for reading your fanfic in the first place?**

**Chidsengan: *stops crying* Right! Anyway, despite my complete lack of talent, thank you so very much to everyone that read this! I can't thank you enough, so please... help yourself to this virtual buffet of fancy food... *pulls back curtain to see it... gone* What? Where'd all the food go?**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: We ate it.**

**Chidsengan: -_- ... Kyoya, call the chefs...**

**Kyoya: *dials chefs on speed dial***

**Chidsengan: ^_^" In any event, thank you all so much once again! I can't wait till chappie three and to see you all again!**

**Tamaki: *dramatically* The Host Club will be waiting for you!**

**Chidsengan: -_- ... yeah, whatever floats your boat, blondie... *smiles* For the rest of us, let's just go with thank you and I can't wait to add all your names to our ever-growing fanfic family! ^_^**

**Haruhi: How is that a consolation prize for your writing skills?**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: It's not. Her writing's too terrible to compensate for.**

**Honey: Yep! ^_^**

**Mori: Mhmm.**

**Chidsengan: TT_TT ... they're right... it is...**


End file.
